Jeffrey Corrick

Estimation Lesson Plan

4/5/03

Grade 5

Objective for math:

To help students build an understanding of estimation, what estimation can be used for and to what benefit.  Additionally, I wish to integrate math into the students reading this week in the genre of their choice, mystery.

Activities to meet those objectives: 

"Operation Estimation" in which the students as agents will attempt to estimate how many Styrofoam pieces are in a box.  They will use various measuring tools, containers, and calculators of their choice and are encouraged to try numerous methods to best estimate the number of Styrofoam pieces in a rectangular box.  The theme is Secret Agents estimating the Queen's Crown Jewels which relates to their reading at reading time.

Special materials needed that are not in my classroom:

Boxes of different sizes

Styrofoam packing material

Assessment:

Assessment will be done mostly in class while facilitating.  However, after I collect the assignments I will review them and design future classes to address problem areas.

Styrofoam Diamonds Are Forever

An assignment by the Minister of Defense

Sir Geoffrey Corrick

Your Mission, "Operation Estimation":

You and your secret agent partner, (James Bond "007," Mr. Phelps, Scully, Mulder, The Saint, Max or 99; your choice), are to use all the resources at your skilled command to estimate the number of Her Majesty's Styrofoam Crown Jewels on display at the CAB museum.  There is sketchy intelligence that some of the jewels have been pilfered.  The confidence in the economic stability of the Common Wealthless is in your hands.  Passwords are "Estimation=approximate calculation."

Protocol:

1.      You may not lift the jewel case for risk of setting off the alarms, lasers, guard dogs and the sprinkler system.

2.      You may use any and all of the tools that Q or the suspicious Irish curator, Jeffrey Shawn O'MacCorrickahan, has provided.  You may use any tricks you have up your sleeve as well.  Some artificial intelligence on (P)erimeter and (A)rea of a rectangle as well as the (V)olume of a cube has been acquired from a defecting behavioralist elementary math teacher.  (P)=The sum of all sides, (A)= length x width and (V)= length x width x height.

3.      You must have secret agent backup of 2-3 agents per team deployed. 

4.      Of course, you only have a short period of time to accomplish your mission. 

Equipment:

1.      Limited edition measuring devices.  (Rulers, tape measures, protractor, etc.)

2.      High-tech computers.  (Calculators)

3.      Equally high-tech containers.  (Boxes, etc.)

4.      Recording equipment.  (Pencils and paper)

5.      Zircon imitation Styrofoam "jewels" to help you with your estimation.

6.      Whatever else is in the room or your pockets that will help you MacGuyver your way through this assignment.  Please don't feel restrained to the government-issued equipment.

Turn the page over, read the other side and begin.à

Techniques:

Below, keep track and explain the various methods you use to determine how many "jewels" are in the case.  Record the numbers and confer with your team as to how confident, on a scale of 1-5, you are in reporting that result to your superiors and record it also below.

Method 1.

Method 2.

Method 3.

Team Assignment Report:

After conferring with your team, how many "jewels" are in the case?

Which method did you come to rely on?

Why do you feel this is the best method for this assignment?

Can you think of other places, situations or needs where estimating is better than counting out individual items?

When all teams in this deployment are finished, the curator will divulge the number of "jewels" that were originally submitted to the museum.

For use in elementary grades this worksheet would require some editing to remove certain thematic inferences that could cause confusion in those earlier grades.

"This message will self-destruct in about 0.95 years, which is a substantially shorter period of time than the Styrofoam."