Task Card #4

Materials: pencils, paper, newspaper ads, ice cream bucket, jelly beans

Task: Subtraction Estimation--How many groceries will a hen buy?
Time Allotted: 20 minutes

Jack's mom sold the hen that lays a golden egg for $30. This is the last of her money. There is no food left in the house. Help mom estimate how many items she can buy without spending more than $30.
  1. Cut up newspaper grocery ads, so each ad is on a separate paper.
  2. Place ads in an ice cream bucket and mix them up.
  3. Give each member a sheet of paper with "$30.00" written at the top.
  4. Sit in a circle. Pass around the bucket. Pick an ad, without looking, and quickly pass the bucket to the next person.
  5. Mentally keep track of spending. When a person estimates they have reached their limit of $30, they are to call out "golden egg."
  6. The rest of the students may continue drawing out of the bucket until they reach their $30 limit and call out "golden egg."
  7. With pencil and paper calculate purchases. How close was each estimation to the actual amount?
  8. The total closest to $30 without going over is the winner. Each student gets a jelly bean to eat.