The purpose of this activity is to engage students in solving a measurement problem involving volume and weight.
This activity assumes the students have experience in the following areas:
The problem is sufficiently open ended to allow the students freedom of choice in their approach. It may be scaffolded with guidance that leads to a solution, and/or the students might be given the opportunity to solve the problem independently.
The example responses at the end of the resource give an indication of the kind of response to expect from students who approach the problem in particular ways.
This mystery parcel has arrived for Noah’s family.
The packaging label is damaged.
Noah wonders what could be inside.
When he measures the parcel he finds it is 24cm long and the
square ends measure 12cm x 12cm.
Say what you think could be in the parcel and why you think that.
The following prompts illustrate how this activity can be structured around the phases of the Mathematics Investigation Cycle.
Introduce the problem. Allow students time to read it and discuss in pairs or small groups.
Discuss ideas about how to solve the problem. Emphasise that, in the planning phase, you want students to say how they would solve the problem, not to actually solve it.
Allow students time to work through their strategy and find a solution to the problem.
Allow students time to check their answers and then either have them pair share with other groups or ask for volunteers to share their solution with the class.
The student sketches a diagram of the box and uses three dimensions to calculate a possible size for each object. They divide the mass by 12 to get the mass of each object. From that estimate they suggest possibilities for the contents that are realistic.
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The student sketches a diagram of the box and uses three dimensions to calculate a possible size for each object. From the calculations of volume and mass they suggest possibilities for the contents that are realistic.
Printed from https://meaningfulmaths.nt.edu.au/mmws/nz/resource/noah-s-mystery-parcel at 8:50pm on the 26th February 2024