Let's investigate how we can make different weights using metric units and Play-Doh!
This activity is an interactive learning experience for children to challenge their own understanding on the different masses of Play-Doh, this task will be conducted in groups to allow collaboration and discussion about the task.
Explanation:
The class is divided into groups and are given a large amount of Play-Doh and a spring scale each. This activity is a race to see who can configure the right amounts first. The teacher will stand at the front of the class and call out a certain amount of mass. The students will have to break their Play-Doh into specific amounts and call out when they have finished. The team who configures the right amount first will get a point. The team with the most amount of points at the end are the winners.
Materials:
Spring Scale for each group
Large amount of Play-Doh
Example Worksheet Questions:
Make 100g of play doh (Extension, what is this in kg?)
Make two 100g blocks, how much is the total?
Make four 50g blocks, how much is the total in kg?
Make one 250g block, now break it into 5, how much does each weigh?
Focus:
The focus of this activity is for children to make estimations and become more familiar with metric units. This task is great for transitioning from the broadening phase to the extending phase of learning progression, as children who are used to informal units still have the chance to analyse the mass of the play-doh they create, then furthering their knowledge by introducing formal units to represent their creations. Children use mathematical skills such as comparing, estimating and recognising the relationship between how heavy/light an object is and its metric units. An extension for this activity is converting these from grams → kg’s or vice versa.
Enabling Prompts:
Larger group sizes to allow more collaboration and to share understanding.
Students are given a more specific amount of Play-Doh to the values they are trying to represent.
Extending Prompts:
Asking follow up questions after students have answered including a higher level of understanding (How much is the 1kg in grams? How any kg's is 400g?).
Making students only answer in a specific metric unit. (If we are dealing with g's ask them to answer only in Kg's, this requiring them to use conversion as well as measuring).
Students have to work individually to measure the amounts of Play-Doh.
21st Century Skills Developed:
Critical Thinking:
Critical thinking is promoted through the construction phase of this activity, students will evaluate their play-doh and make estimations about the mass of each ball, as well as making assumptions about the mass of theirs compared to their group members.
Creativity:
Students are creative in the way they form the Play-Doh. If they want to be the first ones to finish, they have to be strategic about how much they are taking off of their stack or adding on. This will promote creative ways of thinking and building the values.
Communication:
Discussion will be prompted as a result of students estimating the mass of their Play-Doh, other group members may challenge this, or have another view which they will communicate with each other. Further discussion will be had at the end of the class when groups present their findings, sparking interaction between the children whilst they provide feedback to their peers.
Collaboration:
Students will collaborate by adding their different masses together, as well as figuring out how to split certain Play-Doh into different amounts of mass. Students will have different knowledge about the size and mass of different objects, which will help when explaining to group members what their estimation might be.