When it comes to estimation, you need to be careful when close enough is good enough. When balancing a checkbook you need to be spot on. When estimating what your total for your grocery bill is, that however can be close enough. Rounding to the nearest dollar should suffice. I always feel better rounding up than rounding down.
For an example, I have $50 to spend on grocery's for the week. I go down my list and put the price, estimated to the nearest dollar.
Bread 2.00
Lunchmeat 4.00/lb
Noodles 1.00
Lettuce 2.00
etc, etc.... I add up the total and then minus my coupons. Coupons are a must these days!!
This is a wonderful real-life lesson for your children as well. They can have their own notebook and do the estimating and see how close they are at the end.
Estimation can be done in a variety of situations. It is a great help when time is of the essence and an exact is not needed. Estimation can be done, with time such as how long will it take to grocery shop? It can also be done with size, is it worth getting the economy pack of hot dogs? Will they all get eaten?
Adapting this to your classroom can be very easy. For younger grades you can have students bring in empty food containers and set up a grocery store. This activity was done by the preschool teacher that I worked with two years ago, the students loved it. There also is a pretend grocery store at the Minnesota Children's museum and that area was packed every time we visited. Everything can be priced and have play money with a cash register, I guarantee they will love it.
For older students they could bring in ads from the local grocery stores and with a budget amount do their shopping.
More or LessPlace eight quarters in a row. Replace every other coin with a dime. Replace every third coin with a nickel. Finally, replace every fourth coin with a penny. What is the value of the eight coins now? How much more or less money do you have than when you started? Were any coins not replaced? Why or why not?
From Math by the Month, May 2001 TCM. - See more at: http://www.nctm.org/resources/archive.aspx?id=3604&journalid=4#sthash.9ZhTjIwK.dpuf
More or LessPlace eight quarters in a row. Replace every other coin with a dime. Replace every third coin with a nickel. Finally, replace every fourth coin with a penny. What is the value of the eight coins now? How much more or less money do you have than when you started? Were any coins not replaced? Why or why not?
From Math by the Month, May 2001 TCM. - See more at: http://www.nctm.org/resources/archive.aspx?id=3604&journalid=4#sthash.9ZhTjIwK.dpuf
This website is a great place to start for math at the grocery store. Take a look around.
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