Guessing

Home

Chat

Blogs

Collection

Directory

Home : 2008 : March : 7

Guessing
By Aly

Last year, I had 2 centers that the kids liked (both are described in Van de Walle's Elementary & Middle School Mathematics).

1)Capacity Sort:
You have a target container, such as a hot cocoa tin, and
students are to sort other containers based on whether they hold more than the target, less, or about the same. First, they predict for each container whether it will hold more, less or the same. Then they determine which will actually hold more/less/the same by using a filler like beans or rice and a scoop. I used an answer sheet with a picture of each container being judged, with the words

underneath that said "holds more," "holds less" and "holds about the same" with the instructions to circle one. I used the same answer sheet for the round of predictins and the round of testing; they circled "what we guessed" or "what we found" to indicate which was which.

2)Capacity Lineup
Give students a series of 5 to 6 containers of various sizes and they need to order the containers from least volume to greatest. They can again use a filler and a scoop to help solve the problem but they should work in a group to figure out how to use the materials to solve the problem. At the end I had them record the order of the shapes from least to greatest.

I hope these help! : )