This lesson is a hands-on, game-based lesson. It should be part of a larger unit of study on number sense, estimation, and/or place value. The lesson involves students in a game-based activity which gives them a concrete understanding of the relationship between number values, place value, and the accepted mathematical rule for rounding numbers.
This is a College- and Career-Ready Standards showcase lesson plan.
Discover how rounding off numbers helps you estimate faster. Round the numbers and make an estimation about their totals in this interactive Cyberchase activity.
Otto shows the Confalones how to round numbers up or down using spaghetti and meatballs.
Learning to assess the reasonableness of an answer is an important mathematical skill. It’s students' way of seeing if they are on the right track when problem-solving. Sometimes we use rounding to estimate a solution.