The purpose of an Estimation Exploration is to practice the skill of estimating a reasonable answer based on experience and known information.
Launch
Groups of 2
Display the expression.
“What is an estimate that’s too high? Too low? About right?”
1 minute: quiet think time
Teacher Instructions
“Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
1 minute: partner discussion
Record responses.
Student Task
4×18
Record an estimate that is:
too low
about right
too high
Sample Response
Sample responses
Too low: 40 or less
About right: 40–79
Too high: 80 or more
Synthesis
Consider asking:
“Is anyone’s estimate less than ___? Is anyone’s estimate greater than ___?”
“Based on this discussion, does anyone want to revise their estimate?”
Standards
Addressing
3.OA.5·Apply properties of operations as strategies to multiply and divide.
3.OA.B.5·Apply properties of operations as strategies to multiply and divide.<span>Students need not use formal terms for these properties.</span> <span>Examples: If <span class="math">\(6 \times 4 = 24\)</span> is known, then <span class="math">\(4 \times 6 = 24\)</span> is also known. (Commutative property of multiplication.) <span class="math">\(3 \times 5 \times 2\)</span> can be found by <span class="math">\(3 \times 5 = 15\)</span>, then <span class="math">\(15 \times 2 = 30\)</span>, or by <span class="math">\(5 \times 2 = 10\)</span>, then <span class="math">\(3 \times 10 = 30\)</span>. (Associative property of multiplication.) Knowing that <span class="math">\(8 \times 5 = 40\)</span> and <span class="math">\(8 \times 2 = 16\)</span>, one can find <span class="math">\(8 \times 7\)</span> as <span class="math">\(8 \times (5 + 2) = (8 \times 5) + (8 \times 2) = 40 + 16 = 56\)</span>. (Distributive property.)</span>