This problem solving activity has a number (multiplication and division) focus.
Mother Bear is making her 5 bear cubs new coats.
The coats have 3 buttons each.
How many buttons does Mother Bear need?
This problem involves repeated addition which is a prelude to multiplication. It can lead to skip counting in threes.
Other contexts for this problem could include triceratops and horns (3 horns per dinosaur), wheels on tricycles, or insect bites (3 bites per student).
Mother Bear is making her 5 bear cubs new coats. The coats have 3 buttons each. How many buttons does Mother Bear need?
If there are seven bear cubs in the family how many buttons would Mother Bear need to buy?
If Mother Bear has bought 24 buttons, how many coats, each with three buttons will she make?
15 (3..6..9..12..15)
The students may be able to skip count in threes to 15, or may group the buttons into 5 groups of 3 and then count in ones to 15.
21 (3..6..9..12..15..18..21)
The students may be able to skip count in threes to 21, or may group the buttons into 7 groups of 3 and then count in ones to 21.
The students may make 8 piles of 3 buttons and state 8 coats.
Printed from https://meaningfulmaths.nt.edu.au/mmws/nz/resource/buttons-and-bears at 8:55pm on the 26th February 2024