AuSable Primary Math Resources

• Understand measurable attributes
  
• Apply techniques, tools, and formulas to determine measurements
  

The primary goal of this activity is for students to use their knowledge of coin counting (or number or dice adding, in additional modes) to create 3 given amounts of money. 

What mathematical content is being learned (or intended to be learned)?

 Students are learning to more fluently count combinations of coins as they race the clock to match the sums.

Is the focus on instrumental or relational understanding?

• instrumental understanding (carrying out procedures)
• relational understanding (understanding the meaning of mathematical words and symbols; connections among ideas)

To be successful, students will need knowledge of the coins and have some experience counting with them.  They use problem-solving to move the coins to different places to create the correct sums.  They will have to consider the value and sums of the coins several times in the course of just one round.

What role does technology play?

 

The technology provides a fun way to practice coin counting, which can be rather repetitive as students learn to master it.  It gives feedback for correct answers, encouraging correct counting. 

What instructional function(s) does the resource serve?

• practice (i.e., practicing skills or knowledge already learned)
• direct instruction/explanation (i.e., explaining or presenting content to students)
• learning through exploration (i.e., provides context in which students can see new relationships; come to new understandings)

This activity provides practice for students once they understand how to count coins and adds a problem-solving aspect to the practice.

What kinds of representations of the mathematics are used?

• symbolic (i.e., numerals, symbols)
• graphical (i.e., standard graphical notation such as Cartesian (X-Y) coordinate system, bar graph, pie chart)
• visual/spatial (e.g., circles or squares with lines to show fractions)
• concrete or real-world objects (e.g., images of base-10 blocks, puppies, or jars)
• dynamic (mathematical ideas represented through motion or sound)

The real-world objects, coins, are used to create the appropriate sums of money.  Students drag the coins from one sum to another until they have the correct answers in all three sums.