100 Equations

On our 100th day we began a chart to see if the class could come up with 100 equations that equal 100. There was a lot of initial effort and now it has ebbed somewhat. But slowly we are creeping up to 100. As of now we have 98, so just 2 more to go! We've got an interesting combination of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division equations and some combos. It has been fun watching the kids work out equations. Some just think of one and then look to see if it's on the chart already. Others will take an equation already on the chart and vary it a little.

100th Day!

Monday was our 100th day of school. We had a fun morning doing a variety of activities centered on the number 100. The kids always love making 100 day Trail Mix. They get to choose 10 different items (from a selection of dried fruit, bite-sized cereal and crackers, seeds, & chocolate chips) and get 10 of each item. They line their choices up on a hundreds chart then slip it into a bag to munch on. Another favorite is the 100 pig hunt. While one teacher reads Pigs in Hiding, the others hide 100 numbered paper pigs around the main part of the classroom. Excitement ensues as the children try to find all the pigs. As they are found, their numbers are turned around on a hundreds pocket chart. We are now down to about 8 unfound pigs. Some years the last ones don't turn up until end of year cleanup!

Every student had a collection of 100 items to put on display. They all arranged their collections along with a written description. River Class came to visit, and we had a chance to view our classmates collections. It was a wide variety that included collections of shells, rocks, Hershey's kisses, drawings of flowers, pictures created in Photoshop, legos, coins, etc. Students did 100 foot relays, played games with a hundreds chart, colored 100 hearts and 100 stars, worked to write 100 words, and strung necklaces of 100 beads. We are still working on filling a chart with 100 equations that equal 100.

Pictures: Upper left: making 100 item trail mix Upper right: game with the 100 chart
Lower left: a building for 100 frog counters

"But it doesn't come out even!"

This is another journal problem that can puzzle the kids because it doesn't come out even. Today I asked my students to consider this problem:
You invite 10 friends over for a party. You want to serve juice. You want enough for each person to have 1 cup. The extra special juice you want to buy (raspberry razzle-dazzle kiwi!) only comes in quarts. (At this point I asked the students to remember how many cups are in a quart and one of the students supplied 4.) How many quarts do you need to buy? Prove your answer.

Quite a few asked for help. For each I asked leading questions until they came up with an answer and a way to express their understanding of it. Some included themselves in the planning and some did not. One kept trying to adjust the number of people so that every cup was accounted for: "well my parents could come, or maybe I'll have one go out and one stay." That extra cup tends to bother them a lot and I don't think it is in the name of "waste not want not." For them division should be neat and tidy. We'll share our solutions soon. I hope problems like this help them reach some peace with the idea that math can be messy!