ESTIMATE

NUMBER SENSE ROUTINE

Routine: Students are presented with an estimation challenge. Students work individually, or in small groups, to make a predication and/or estimation, then discuss their explanations. This routine will strengthen students’ ability to defend their thinking with mathematical reasoning. This routine will place the emphasis on process and remind students that the thinking behind the answer is as important - or more so - than the answer itself. The following sites were used as inspiration for these number sense routines: Estimation 180, Esti-Mysteries, Estimation Clipboard, and https://robertkaplinsky.com/.

Guiding Questions:

  • Why is estimating important?

  • What is an estimate that is too high? Too low?

  • What strategies did you use to come up with your estimate?

  • How does your strategy compare to ___'s strategy?

  • How can using an anchor help you get a better estimate?

  • What reasoning did you use to determine your estimate?

  • How close or far was your estimate from the actual answer?

  • What makes an estimate reasonable/unreasonable?

  • Is a guess the same as an estimate?

  • What did you learn from this estimation challenge that you might apply to another estimation challenge?