Growth Point 5
Multiplication and Division Growth Points activities
The tasks listed on the following pages are rich tasks from various sources that may be used with multi-level groups or students who are working at a particular level.
5. Basic, derived and intuitive strategies for multiplication
Can solve a range of multiplication problems using strategies such as commutativity and building up from known facts.
Mystery number
Materials: Calculator, dice.
Activity: Students roll the dice to determine the factor they are going to enter into the calculator.
One student then hides the calculator from another student/group and enters another factor (x). This student then says, ‘My new number is 35. What did I multiply our number by?’.
Students take turns to predict what the number was multiplied by and test their assumptions on a calculator.
Related key ideas: Properties of multiplication and division.
Multiplication snap
Materials: Snap cards.
Activity: Students play snap with the cards provided.
This reinforces the connection between the written number sentence and the language of multiplication (e.g. 3 × 4 = 3 fours).
Related key ideas: Properties of multiplication.
Choose dive
Materials: Playing cards (with picture cards removed), number list.
Activity: Each student chooses five numbers from the list in Appendix 74. They each take turns to draw two cards. These two cards are then multiplied together or divided, and if either student has chosen this number they may cross it off their list. The first student to cross off all five of their numbers is the winner.
Related key ideas: Properties of multiplication and division.
Vowels and consonants
Materials: Two different coloured dice.
Activity: Each student has a piece of paper on which they write their first and last names, street name, suburb and age in years (in words). Each student then takes turn to roll the two dice. One dice is used to score vowels, and the scores dice consonants. Consider the example of a student called Maria Flores, from Lowther St, Westmeadows, aged eleven. If Maria rolled red and blue dice, and rolled a red 4 and a blue 2, she could calculate the value of her own name as:
• vowels (a, I, a, o, e) × 4 points = 20 points
• consonants (m, r, f, l, r, s) × 2 points = 12 points
• name total = 32 points.
Play then passes to the next student to calculate their name value. It then repeats to calculate the value of students’ street name, suburb and age (in words), which are all tallied for a final score.
Related key ideas: Properties of multiplication.