Part-Whole Bowling

Recommended Grade: Primary

Curriculum Expectations: Number Sense & Numeration

Learning Goal:

We want student to recognize the relationship between parts and the whole. When the whole remains the same, as one part increases, the other part has to decrease. This will also help students to develop the conceptual understanding of their number facts to 10.

Required Supplies:

      • 10 plastic cups to act as "bowling pins"
      • Dash, ipad, Blocklify or Blockly
      • Individual 10-frame strips pre-cut out (that match your whole) See here for printable cup 10-frames.
      • Red & Yellow Markers

Challenge: Students are trying to have Dash knock down the cups and find all of the combinations of 10 possible.

Instructions:

  1. Give students a handful of strips the "whole" (the number of cups total that they could knock over).
  2. Students will set up solo cups in a triangle.
  3. They will program Dash to knock down as many cups as possible in one run.
  4. Once Dash has completed the code, students will record their findings on the 10-strip based on the legend below.
    1. 10-strips should be cut so each strip is individual.
    2. They will use 1 strip each time Dash completes a bowl.
    3. Students do not record duplicate answers. (i.e. If Dash knocks down 4, and 6 are standing and that happens exactly the same again).
  5. When students think that they have all of the possible combinations of up and down cups, they will sort their strips to prove this.
  6. They can colour in any missing strips.

Reflection Questions:

  • What code did you notice worked best for getting a strike?
  • How many different combinations of part/whole did you find?
  • What questions arose while you did this activity?