'Filled to Capacity' - Finding out about Volume

In Maths, we are finding out about Volume.

Volume is the amount of space inside a shape.

Our first challenge was to make a building with 12 cubes.

Although the buildings were different shapes (some were tall and narrow, others were short and wide), we decided that they took up the same amount of room because they were each built with 12 cubes.

The second challenge was to create a container that would hold 30 beads, with just the right amount of space.

It took a few tries, 

but everyone showed persistence and kept trying until they had a container just the right size.

We kept trying!

We saw that different shaped containers can have the same volume.

Building Our Growth Mindsets

Our 2018 school year is underway!

During the first week back we used videos and activities from 
Jo Boaler's Week of Inspirational Maths
to get our brains thinking again.

Over the past couple of years we've been working on maths in different ways, working in mixed groups to figure out rich tasks that develop our math thinking. 
We've been learning to talk about our learning and to challenge others to explain their thinking. 
We've also been learning that mistakes make our brains grow! Our new saying is 'a mistake is a first attempt in learning'.

The 'Building Shapes' activity got us working as a team to try the challenges. Each team had to convince the 'skeptics' that we'd created the shapes.

Did you notice some groups who kept trying until they found success?

Thinking It Through - Problem solving in maths

How could we order ourselves from heaviest to lightest, without using scales?

First idea - throw some rope over the basketball hoop and haul people up to find the heaviest and lightest 

(but we decided that wouldn't be safe).

Second idea - jump off something high and the person who lands first is heavier

Guess what - we landed at the same time!

We talked about balance scales, and someone thought about using a seesaw. 

So off we went to the play-park just down the road.

We had solved the problem!

What other ideas could we have tried?

Chocolate Maths!

The B4 children were excited to walk into the classroom before school and find blocks of chocolate sitting on some of the tables!

One table had one block, one table had two blocks and one table had three blocks.

Mmmm, mouths were watering!

At maths time, some children were invited, one at a time, to think about this question then choose a table to sit at:

"If the chocolate on the table I sit at is to be shared out equally when I sit down, which would be the best table to sit at?"

After six children had chosen a table, there was: 

one child at the 1-block table, 

three children at the 2-block table, 

and two children at the 3-block table.

At that point, the class had to figure out how much chocolate the children at each table would get.

At the 1-block table, the child would get the whole block.

At the 2-block table, the three children would get less than a whole block but more than half a block each.

At the 3-block table, the two children would get a whole block plus half of another block each!

Then, one-by-one, children were invited to think about the question and choose a table to sit at.

It didn't take long for the children already at the tables to realise that when others came to their table, their share of the chocolate decreased!

Looking very pleased to have a whole block to himself!

Oh no, I'm only getting half a block now!

Four people sharing now - that's only a quarter of a block each.

A fifth share is not going to be much.

Oh heck! Only going to get a seventh!

Meanwhile, the other tables were also getting a bit crowded, and the potential share of chocolate were also 

getting smaller.

Luckily, when we finally shared some of the chocolate, everyone got a fair share, plus we have some to use another day!

If there is one child sitting at the 2-block table, one at the 1-block table and two at the 3-block table,

which table do you think Child 4 should sit at?

Note: This Chocolate activity comes from nrich.org

Making Mindfulness Jars

Sarah and Shelly have been coming this term and taking us for Mindfulness.

Doing Mindful breathing, moving and eating can help us to calm our minds. 

Mindfulness can help us if we feel worried or upset.

We made mindfulness jars.

We put some water with a little glue powder into the jars, added some food colouring, then sprinkled lots of big and little glitter in.

Finally, we glued around the lids before screwing them onto the jars.

When we shake the jars the water and glitter acts like a snow storm. 

The glitter represents our busy thoughts. 

Just as the glitter settles to the bottom of the jar, our thoughts can settle and become quieter.

What do you do to settle your thoughts?

Have you done Mindfulness?

Filling the 100 Chart

We worked in twos or threes to see how quickly we could put the numbers back onto a 100 grid.

We found there are many ways to do it, but some strategies are quicker than others.

Starting from 1 and hunting for the next numbers in order took far too long!

Using what we know about number patterns in rows and columns was quicker.

What patterns might you use to do this quickly?