ABSTRACT
Explain your strategy and your reasoning. Think how you might verify your estimate.
• A large jar filled with popcorn kernels • Cups of several different sizes, such as portion cups from a
hospital, 7 oz cold drink cups • Scales or pan balance and weights (standard or non-standard) • Graph paper • Calculators
This assessment task requires that students devise a plan to estimate large numbers. It poses a challenge because the first response of most students — to simply count the kernels — is quickly discovered to be impossibly tedious. Therefore, stu dents must create a strategy based on either area, volume, weight, or the successive dividing of numbers.
