Situations Involving Equal-Size Groups
10 min
Narrative
This Estimation Exploration prompts students to practice making a reasonable estimate based on experience and known information. In this case, it is not practical to count the paletas, but students could reason about groups of paletas by color, or estimate the complete rows and columns of paletas and extend their estimate to the whole set. Some students might also make an estimate based on their familiarity with how paletas are usually arranged in cases.
Launch
- Groups of 2
- Display the image.
- “These are ice pops called paletas (pah-LAY-tuhs). They originated in Mexico and are typically made with many different fruits.”
- Ask students to estimate without counting.
- “What is an estimate that’s too high? Too low? About right?”
- 1 minute: quiet think time
Teacher Instructions
- “Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
- 1 minute: partner discussion
- Record responses.
Student Task
How many paletas (pah-LAY-tuhs) are in the case?
Record an estimate that is:
| too low | about right | too high |
|---|---|---|
Sample Response
- Too low: less than 30
- About right: 30–80
- Too high: more than 80
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)
- “Is anyone’s estimate less than 30? Greater than 80?”
- “How did you know that 30 (or another number) would be too low and 80 (or another number) too high?”
- “Based on this discussion does anyone want to revise their estimate?”
Standards
- 3.OA.3·Use multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems in situations involving equal groups, arrays, and measurement quantities, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.
- 3.OA.A.3·Use multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems in situations involving equal groups, arrays, and measurement quantities, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.<span>See Glossary, Table 2.</span>
15 min
20 min
Knowledge Components
All skills for this lesson
No KCs tagged for this lesson
Situations Involving Equal-Size Groups
10 min
Narrative
This Estimation Exploration prompts students to practice making a reasonable estimate based on experience and known information. In this case, it is not practical to count the paletas, but students could reason about groups of paletas by color, or estimate the complete rows and columns of paletas and extend their estimate to the whole set. Some students might also make an estimate based on their familiarity with how paletas are usually arranged in cases.
Launch
- Groups of 2
- Display the image.
- “These are ice pops called paletas (pah-LAY-tuhs). They originated in Mexico and are typically made with many different fruits.”
- Ask students to estimate without counting.
- “What is an estimate that’s too high? Too low? About right?”
- 1 minute: quiet think time
Teacher Instructions
- “Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
- 1 minute: partner discussion
- Record responses.
Student Task
How many paletas (pah-LAY-tuhs) are in the case?
Record an estimate that is:
| too low | about right | too high |
|---|---|---|
Sample Response
- Too low: less than 30
- About right: 30–80
- Too high: more than 80
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)
- “Is anyone’s estimate less than 30? Greater than 80?”
- “How did you know that 30 (or another number) would be too low and 80 (or another number) too high?”
- “Based on this discussion does anyone want to revise their estimate?”
Standards
- 3.OA.3·Use multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems in situations involving equal groups, arrays, and measurement quantities, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.
- 3.OA.A.3·Use multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems in situations involving equal groups, arrays, and measurement quantities, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.<span>See Glossary, Table 2.</span>