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rocery store. It's where the total is added up,
the money is exchanged, and the change is returned.
What you'll need
All the items you intend to buy
What to do
1. Have your child estimate the total.
2. Ask, if I have 10 one-dollar bills, how many will I have
to give the clerk? What if I have 20 one-dollar bills? 5?
How much change should I receive? What coins will I get?
3. Count the change with your child to make sure the change
is correct.
One way to make estimating totals easy is to assign an
average price to each item. If the average price for each item
is $2 and if you have 10 items, the estimate would be about
$20.
It's in the Bag
Here's some fun estimation to do with bags full of
groceries.
What you'll need
Bags of groceries
What to do
1. Have your child guess how many objects there are in a bag.
Ask: Is it full? Could it hold more? Could it tear if you
put more in it? Are there more things in another bag of
the same size? Why do some bags hold more or less than
others?
2. Estimate the weight of the bag of groceries. Does it weigh
5 pounds, 10 pounds, or more? How can you check your
estimate? Now, compare one bag to another. Which is
lighter or heavier? Why?
This activity exposes children to the experiences of
counting items and comparing qualities, as well as to judging
spatial relationships and capacity. It shows how to estimate
weight by feeling how much the bag weighs, comparing it to a
known weight (such as a 5-pound bag of sugar), or weighing it
on a scale.
Put It Away
Now, the sorting begins as you put away the groceries.
What you'll need
Your bags of groceries
Counter top or table to group items on
What to do
1. Find one characteristic that is the same for some of the
products. For example, some are boxes and some are cans.
2. Put all the items together that have the same
characteristic.
3. Find another way to group these items.
4. Continue sorting, finding as many different ways to group
the items as you can.
5. Play "Guess My Rule." In this game, you sort the items and
invite your child to guess your rule for sorting them.
Then, your child can sort the items, and you can guess the
rule.
Sorting helps children develop classifying and reasoning
skills and the ability to examine data and information.
Math on the Go
In this busy world, we spend a lot of time in transit.
These are some projects to try while you are going from place
to place.
While you're moving, have your children keep theft eyes
open for:
* street and building numbers;
* phone numbers on the sides of taxis and trucks;
* dates on buildings and monuments; and
* business names that have numbers in them.
Number Search
The object is to look for numbers around you: on cars,
buses, subways, and on foot.
What you'll need
Some type of transportation or
A place from which to observe
Paper
Pencil
Ruler
What to do
1. Create a chart that lists the numbers from 1-50.
2. Write down each number as family members locate that
number on a car, a sign, a building.
3. Write down words that have numbers in them such as
"one-stop shopping," "two-day service," or "Highway 20."
This is a great challenge for family members of all age,
because even young children can learn to recognize numbers.
License Plates
License plates have numbers and are fun to use to play
games while on the go.
What you'll need
License plates
Paper
Pencil
What to do
1. Copy down a license plate. Read it as a number (excluding
the letters). For example, if the license is 663M218, the
number would be six hundred sixty-three thousand, two
hundred eighteen.
2. Find other license plates and read their numbers. Is the
number less than, greater than, or equal to yours?
3. Estimate the difference between your number and another
license plate. Is it 10, 100, 1,000, or 10,000?
4. Record the names of the states of as many different
license plates as you see. From which state do you see the
most? Which has the fewest? Prepare a chart or graph to
show your findings.
These activities encourage reading, recognizing numbers,
noticing symbols, writing, counting, and graphing.
Total It
This is a good game for practicing quick mental
computation.
What you'll need
License plates
What to do
1. Call out the numbers on the license plate.
2. See who can add the numbers up correctly. What strategies
were used? (Were the numbers added by 10's like 2+8; were
doubles like 6+6 used?)
3. Try different problems using the numbers in a license
plate.
For example, if you use the plate number 663M218, ask,
"Using the numbers on the plate, can you:
make a 1 using two numbers? Yes, 3-2=1.
make a 1 using three numbers? Yes, 6-(3+2)=1
make a 1 using four numbers? Yes, (6+6)-8-3-1
make a 1 using five numbers? Yes, 3-[(6+6)-8-2]=1
make a 1 using six numbers? Yes, 8x2-(6+6)-3=1
make a 2 using 1 number? Yes, the 2.
The problem solving and computation going on in your
child's head is very important. It helps your child be creative
with numbers.
How Long? How Far?
Many times when you are on the go, you are headed
somewhere that requires you be there by a certain time.
What you'll need
Information about how far you're traveling and how long
it will take
What to do
1. Ask your children how far t
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