Summer SAVY, Session 6 Day 5, “Numbers Big and Small” (3rd-4th)
We are sorry that Numbers Big & Small has come to an end. We have enjoyed exploring numbers with your children.
This morning, we learned more about decimals. The class discussed that it’s easy to think of decimals when we think of money. We watched a quick Maths Mansion video (a silly British educational video) with the mole puppet Deci-mole. Then we started helping the friendly birds at the Tenth Street Pet Sanctuary. We compared morning and afternoon weights of the birds to be sure they were growing. Those who wanted a challenge calculated the amount of weight gained or lost (232.8 g versus 234.06 g). Then the students shopped for health care products, food, and toys for the birds, and added the prices. The students put themselves in order by the amount spent on the shopping. We saw who spent the most and least money on the birds.
Would you rather: Have a one-time payment of $1 million OR 1 cent on day 1; 2 cents on day 2; 4 cents on day 3; continuing to double for a month? We read the book One Grain of Rice by Demi. This is a mathematical tale of a raja who did not share rice with the hungry villagers. But a clever village girl named Rani devised a plan. In the end, we learned Rani had collected over a billion grains of rice (1,073,741,823 to be exact)! The group was surprised by the power of doubling numbers! We also learned about a Googol and how Google got its name.
Our culminating activity included our research from yesterday. We created posters about our animal choices for the Tenth Street Pet Sanctuary. These included the calculated costs for the animals at the sanctuary, like food and fencing (perimeter). They had to figure out the space (area) needed for the animals. (Elephants require more area than ants.) They had to explain why their chosen animal should be included and present their posters and ideas to their classmates. We had quite a variety of animals joining Tenth Street Sanctuary!
*You will see that most of the workbook is not complete. However, feel free to continue to build on the decimal lessons.
Dinner table questions:
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What were some of the numbers related to your animal?
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What have you learned about numbers?
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Would you rather have $1,000 today, or a 1 penny doubled every day for a month? Explain!
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Are there games we should play at home?
We enjoyed our week with your children. Keep thinking like mathematicians. Thank you for a fun week!
Warmly,
Ms. Elizabeth & Ms. Madden
