Summer SAVY, Session 6 Day 4, “Numbers Big and Small” (3rd-4th)
We had another fun day with these SAVY math students. This morning, we learned about Fermi problems. These are open-ended questions that require students to make assumptions, estimates, and educated guesses to creatively solve them. Many don’t have clear-cut answers; sometimes, alternative paths to solutions are possible, and they take many steps to solve. (How many water balloons could fit into a classroom? How many hairs are on my head?) The students were all given a water bottle and a small package of Skittles. They worked to determine how many Skittles it would take to fill the water bottle, and created a poster explaining their solutions. Then, the students presented their ideas to the group.
We worked on a couple of logic problems. Then, we switched from very large numbers to very small numbers: decimals and fractions. We read The Universe in You: A Microscopic Journey by Jason Chin. This book zooms in – past our skin to our cells, molecules, atoms, all the way down to particles so small we can’t yet measure them.
The class was introduced to the Tenth (decimal name) Street Pet Sanctuary, where we will be using decimals to help birds there (tomorrow). We went to the computer lab, and the students researched animals that they would like at the Pet Sanctuary. They researched numbers related to the animals in general (size, weight, amount of food, space needed for a proper enclosure…..). We have a variety of animals like the dodo bird, iguana, panda, mosasaurus, and cheetah pup…..At the end of the day, we played a Kahoot on prime and composite numbers, and one on place value.
Dinner table questions:
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What are examples of Fermi problems?
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How did you solve the Skittles in the water bottle?
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What animal did you research? Why?
Warmly,
Ms. Elizabeth & Ms. Madden
