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AnimalWatch is a web-based tutoring system for middle school mathematics. The specific focus is on helping students with the transition from arithmetic to algebra, when many students experience declining math achievement and motivation to succeed in math.

In AnimalWatch, math learning is integrated with authentic material about endangered species: The Giant Panda, Right Whale, Mongolian Takhi Wild Horse, California Condor, and the Snow Leopard. New material about sharks is coming soon. Students complete word problems about the species, organized into "virtual narratives". For each problem, students can request a multimedia explanation, a worked example requiring the same skills, or a video lesson. Students' progress through the narratives is customized on the basis of prior math achievement, mathematics motivation, and ongoing performance.

AnimalWatch is designed to support supplemental classroom use. The word problems are aligned with the California Mathematics Frameworks (Number Sense; Algebra and Functions; Measurement and Geometry; and Statistics, Data Analysis and Probability) and have been reviewed by master teachers in California and Massachusetts. Current topics include arithmetic, fractions, pre-algebra, and data analysis.

The AnimalWatch project is supported by a grant from the Institute of Education Sciences Mathematics and Science Education Research Program R305K05086.