Activity 1: Bear Lineups
Students will work in pairs to sort colorful, plastic bears. Ask what attribute
they think they should sort by (color). Once students have sorted their
bears, they should listen carefully to the clues and complete one line
together as a class. This will get them thinking and using appropriate
reasoning. Read and discuss the following clues:
1. There are 6 bears in this line up. Two are green.
2. The red bear is after a blue bear.
3. A green bear is first in line and the red bear is last.
4. Two yellow bears come right before the blue bear.
Activity 2: Work with Wooden Balances
Students will need a balance, stack of metal washers and a bag of large paper
clips.
Balance Problem 1
Tell them they are going to take turns adding washers to the balance. Student
one should put two washers on Hook #2 on the left side of the balance. Let
it go out of balance and tell them that from now on they will not change
anything on the left side of the balance. Student two should balance this
(they will probably hang two washers on hook number two right). Now tell
student number three that they need to remove the two on the right side and
re-balance WITHOUT using hook number two on the right. Have the students
take turns coming up with as many ways to balance the balance as possible.
Report how many washers you used and on what hooks. Talk to them about the “rule” you
can use to figure out what will work before you even try it. Clear the balance
of all washers
Balance Problem 2
Put two washers on Hook #3 on the left side of the balance. Balance these washers
by putting washers on any of the hooks on the right side of the balance except
for #3. Report how many washers you used and on what hooks (remember to try
to use the rule). There are two additional balance problems you can also
use if you have more time left.
Activity 3: Work with Tangrams
Tangram Puzzlers:
1. Can you make a square, using exactly 3 pieces? 4 pieces? 5 pieces?
2. Can you make a rectangle that is not a square, using exactly 3 pieces?
4 pieces? 5 pieces?
3. Can you make a parallelogram, using exactly 3 pieces? 4 pieces? 5 pieces?
4. Can you make a triangle, using exactly 3 pieces? 4 pieces? 5 pieces?
5. How many different shapes can you make with two small triangles and
a square?
6. Can you make a hexagon? A pentagon? A trapezoid?
7. Can you use all 7 pieces to make a square? |
Activity 4: Work with Cuisenaire Rods
Pass out one box of Cuisenaire rods per table.
Tell each student to get one rod of each color out of the box and to create
a flat staircase on the table in front of them. What is the difference in size
as you move from step to step? One cube. If the cube has a value of 1, what
is the value of each of the other rods. What if the value of the cube is 2?
Or 10?
Tell the students to find the light green rod. Line it up on the worksheet
and try to find all the possible combinations of other rods that can
combine to equal the length of the light green rod (there are four ways).
These are called “trains” that equal the length of a longer
rod. Fill in the worksheet with the two larger rods and try to do the
same thing.
Hidden Rods – the instructor puts a mystery rod (or two or three)
in their pocket and puts these clues on the overhead for the students
to try to figure out which rod is hidden. Answer is in parentheses.
1. One rod.
It is shorter than Light Green plus Red.
It is longer than Light Green.
(Purple)
2. Two rods.
Train is as long as Brown.
Difference between the two rods is Red.
(Yellow + Light Green)
3. Two rods.
Train equals Orange.
Difference between the two rods is zero.
(Yellow + Yellow)
4. Three rods.
All different.
Train is as long as Dark Green.
(Light Green, Red, White)
5. Three rods.
No rod is longer than Light Green.
Train equals Blue.
(3 Light Green)
6. Four rods.
All different.
Longest rod is shorter than yellow.
(Purple, Light Green, Red, White)
7. Five rods.
The train equals Dark Green.
(Red + 4 White)
8. Three rods.
All different.
Difference between the longest and shortest is Red.
Longest is Black.
9. Five rods.
If you make a staircase, the step between each rod is Red.
Red is not one of the rods.
(Blue, Black, Yellow, Light Green, White)
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