Rounding:
How We Use It in Our Everyday Lives
Although I
wasn’t very confident with my math skills when I was in school, rounding was a
math concept that I felt capable of doing. The realization that I was able to
successfully grasp a math concept gave me determination in math class. Not only
was this a math concept that boosted my self-esteem, but it’s also a concept I
use in my everyday life.
Rounding
allows the replacement of a number with another number that holds approximately
the same value. When encountering the number 1,899, this number can be rounded
to 1,900. Or say you encountered a number such as this,
3486.083456879532321309. Instead of taking this number for its exact value,
this number can be simply rounded to an approximate value. There is no doubt
that rounding and estimation are essential for children to learn. The concept
of rounding can be incorporated into creative and memorable activities for
children. Some activities that provide students with a hands-on experience with
rounding are as follows:
*Students will receive various index cards containing a
variety of numbers. The numbers 0, 10, 20, 30, etc. can be listed on the board,
or on large pieces of poster board. The students will then be asked to place
their numbers under the correct answer. This lesson can be adjusted for
multiple grade levels.
*Students will sit in a circle for this activity. The
students are given a piece of paper to tape to their shirts. There are numbers
in increments of 10’s and 100’s on the student’s papers. The teacher will call
out a number 1-100 and ask the student to round to the nearest 10. The student
will round the number to the nearest 10, and throw a ball to the student with
that corresponding number on their shirts. This activity could also be adapted
for different grade levels.
*A time line will be placed on the floor using tape, or
poster boards. A timeline can be used in younger grade levels to give them the opportunity
to visualize the rounding rules. The teacher can ask students to point to any
number on the timeline such as, 17 using a ruler. The students will then be
asked to identify which number 17 is closer too, the 10 or the 20.
Rounding and
estimating can be hard for students to understand, but with the use of visuals,
and hands-on experiences, this concept will become easier for students to
comprehend. Teachers can also use chants, and catchy songs to introduce
students to rounding. Chants are rhythmic, and therefore recalling the rounding
rules will become more automatic. The approaches and strategies used in the
classroom will ensure recall of these rules for later use.
No comments:
Post a Comment