|
|
 | |
| |
 Grade 4 Math Activities
Complex Counting
-
Counting goes beyond 1, 2, 3, 4... . There is an entire area of
math (called discrete mathematics) that focuses
on counting things arranged in different ways. Help your child explore
this fascinating world, which begins with everyday questions.
Here's what you need:
-
| |
|
| Paper and pencil |
Here's what you do:
-
Help your child come up with and answer questions about arranging
and ordering things. Here are some examples to get you started:
| |
|
| A group of campers is waiting to go into the zoo. If there
are 8 of them, how many different ways can they line up? |
| |
|
| Aunt Lorraine has 6 sundresses and 4 pairs of sandals. How
many different outfits can she wear? |
| |
|
| If the ice cream store carries 11 different flavors, how
many kinds of double-dip cones can they make? What if it didn’t
matter which flavor is on top? What if it did matter? |
| |
|
| Mr. Vern always plants 3 different types of flowers in his
garden. If he has 9 choices of flowers to plant this year, how many
different gardens can he plant? |
Once your child settles on a question to explore, the challenge
is keeping track of her answers. It often helps to give choices specific
names, such as the names of campers or the ice cream flavors, and
then give each name a code, say V = vanilla. Then your child can use
the codes to list all the possibilities. For example, the picture
above shows all the ways to make double dip cones from chocolate (C)
and vanilla (V) if it matters which flavor is on top.
In addition to listing possibilities, your child needs to organize
the information and to be sure she finds it all. You may want to first
let her plunge in and “create a mess”; then she may
become eager to develop an organizing system. Make sure your child
starts with a question that she can manage. If her original question
proves too hard, help her come up with one she can successfully pursue.
Keep going...
-
Gradually moving from simpler to harder problems can help your
child notice problem-solving patterns. Ask your child to explain what
she notices is happening in each problem and to begin organizing the
final totals in systematic ways. Can your child predict the answer
to the next problem? Discrete mathematics is an exciting area that
involves logic, probability, and algebra. This activity is a first
step into a world that your child may one day explore in much more
complicated ways.
Grade 4 Math Activities
|
|
