K. Dyluniwch ddesg
| Introduction |
|---|
| An activity to explore how to determine the dimensions of a piece of furniture. This is then linked to personal measurements. Usefulness of measurements rather than accuracy is emphasised. This allows all children to participate at their level. They move from the range and median for a small group to those for the whole class, and relate their mathematical ideas to real life use. |
| This activity has two episodes. Each episode consists of an introduction, paired or group work and whole class sharing. The session must finish with a whole class reflection phase, regardless of how far the class has got. |
| Episode 1: Finding the maths in a familiar setting |
| Children list physical features of a desk they might like for themselves, and focus on the mathematical feature of size. The size is then analysed into the three dimensions of length, width and height. These dimensions are then linked to the extent of each child’s forward and sideways reach and to what is a comfortable height for them. Children measure and record their personal dimensions. They share the values and talk about a range of values and about some middle value. |
| Episode 2: Exploring the median as a representative value |
| Children see an example based on the values for a group of four children. Each group then lists either their arm span, reach or height values in order of size and finds the median in their own way. Children share their ways of finding the median and range. They find the median and range for the whole class and may discuss other representative values such as the mean. They compare their data with the dimension of the tables they have in the school. |
| Reflection |
| Children review their thought processes in the two episodes. They express their views on the advantages and disadvantages of this way of determining the best dimensions for a desk and speculate on other situations for which this approach may or may not be suitable, for example, what about a door and the median? |
| BEFORE YOU TEACH |
| Ensure that children know how to use a tape measure correctly before the lesson and are able to measure. Some prior work on rounding up and down to the nearest centimetre and half centimetre would also be useful. |