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 Grades 3–5 Math Activities
Complex Counting
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Counting goes beyond 1, 2, 3, 4... . There is an entire area of
math (called discrete mathematics) that focuses
on counting in different ways. Help your child explore this fascinating
world, which begins with everyday questions.
Here's what you need:
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| Paper and pencil |
Here's what you do:
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Help your child pose and answer questions about arranging and ordering
things. Use questions about actual things in your child’s life.
Here are some examples to get you started:
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| 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? |
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| Aunt Lorraine has 6 sundresses and 4 pairs of sandals. How
many different outfits can she wear? |
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| 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? |
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| 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 helps to give choices specific
names, such as the names of campers or the flavors of ice cream, and
then give each name a code, say V = vanilla. Then your child can use
the codes to list 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 find
and organize the information. 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...
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Gradually move from simpler to harder problems. Ask your child
to explain what she notices in each problem, and she will begin to
organize the final totals in systematic ways. Discrete mathematics
is an exciting area on its own, and exploring it helps to illuminate
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.
Grades 3–5 Math Activities
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