Estimating Using Numerical Relationships

Christeen Brown                Fulton School
                               5300 S. Hermitage St.
                               Chicago, Illinois 60609
                               (312) 535-9000

Sandy Reed, Gloria Cheers      Fulton School

Objectives:

This lesson is aimed for grades 4-6.
A.  The students will estimate the amount of Jolly Ranchers that will fill 
different size cups.
B.  The students will estimate the amount of breaths it will require to fill a 
balloon of different increments (ex. 9", 12" and 16".)
C.  The students will stack coins and estimate how many stacked coins will it 
take to measure known heights of certain objects and determine how much money 
the height of these objects would be in pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.

Materials Needed:
 
Station 1: Jolly Ranchers, 2 ounce cups, 5 ounce cups, 9 ounce cups, one 18 
ounce cup and a 70 ounce container. Station 2: Three different size balloons for 
each pair (9", 12" and 16".) Station 3: Quarters, dimes, nickels, pennies,(about 
20 of each), rulers and calculators. 

Strategy:

Station 1: The student will fill the 2 ounce, 5 ounce, and 9 ounce cups with 
Jolly Ranchers.  Count the number of Jolly Ranchers and record for each cup on 
worksheet.  Divide the number of Jolly Ranchers in each cup by the number of 
ounces to find the number of Jolly Ranchers per ounce.  Using the data written 
on the worksheet (number of Jolly Ranchers per ounce for each cup), determine 
the number of Jolly Ranchers that will fill the 18 ounce and 70 ounce 
containers.Station 2: The students will estimate how many breaths it will take 
to fill a 9", 12", and 16" balloon.  Working in pairs, one person will blow the 
balloons up, while the other person counts the amount of breaths it takes to 
fill the balloons.  Then, the student will graph the amount of breaths that 
actually filled each balloon.  Lastly, the student will observe the relationship 
between the amount of breaths compared to the size of the different balloons. 
Station 3: The student will sort and stack coins quarters, dimes, nickels, and 
pennies as high as possible.  The student will estimate the number of stacked 
coins required to measure up to the height of the Sears Tower.  Also, determine 
the amount of money it will take in pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters to 
reach the height of the Sears Tower (443 meters).

Reference:

Page, David and Phillip Wagreich.  Maneuvers with Nickels and Numbers. Dale 
Seymour Publications, 1990.