Picnicking with Fractions

Story Context

Through the use of a story about a picnic, students were provided a context to solve an open-ended question. 

I played this video for my second graders as a hook. I find embedding a math problem in the context of a story makes solving problems more fun and gives students more to visualize. 

Investigate

Here's the open ended question we used. 

Show Evidence 

Students were learning the difference between parts of a whole and parts of a group.

What's the Unit? Provocation

This is the question I posed to the class today. To help them make some predictions I gave them 8 different pictures including the ones below:

 

 

In pairs students spent a few minutes considering the pictures or quote. I asked them,

• What can you see? What does it remind you of? How does it make you feel?

Many students had focused and thoughtful conversations about what they were seeing and how this might relate back to our Unit of Inquiry. Some predictions included travel, differences, the world and senses.

Tomorrow I will give them some more pictures for some more hypothesizing and then we will be able to discuss our focus for the next six weeks.

Here are some photos of the students hard at work reflecting, thinking and inquiring.

  

Tools for Measuring Time

Have you ever wondered how people measured time before calendars and wall clocks?

Well this week our second graders created different tools to measure time.

One of the tools we made was a sand clock. With a partner, students used some sand, paper and a paper plate to make a sand clock/sand timer. These can be used to measure the duration of time.

  

Another tool, students had to follow instructions to make was a water clock. Water clocks measure time by the flow of water into a container. The measurements are then marked on the container.

One more tool, students made to measure time was a sundial. We used a paper plate and a straw to create our own sundials. We placed the sundials in the sun with the Number 12 facing North so that the shadow cast would tell us the correct time.

Throw a 100

Today in math we were practicing our addition skills attempting to solve the math problem "Throw a 100".

The reactions of all students were interesting and varied. Some stuck at it for a long time, while others hid under desks! Others collaborated creating a bit of noise and some decided to work quietly and independently. 

They really wanted to know the answer and became very excited when someone thought they had solved it but after spending some time on it we had to stop with no answers. Even I sat and attempted to solve it with no luck. 

I promised that I would post the question on the blog and let them continue it for homework. 

Can you solve it?