PBS Teachers™

PBS Teachers

Multimedia resources & professional development for America's preK-12 educators.

Mathline

An Apple A Day
Number Sense/Computation

Download PDF Lesson | Get Acrobat
A Printable version of this lesson is available in PDF format.
This requires a free plug-in, Adobe Acrobat Reader.
You can find out if you need it by clicking on the PDF link.

Objective

Students will use number sense and estimation such as taking a sample and using benchmarks to make reasonable estimates.

Students will use computation skills to solve problems and estimation to check the reasonableness of the results.

Overview of the Lesson

Utilizing the thematic setting of Johnny Appleseed, students have many opportunities to practice their number sense, computation and estimation skills as they progress from merely guessing the number of apples in a bushel to making a reasonable estimate based on a point of reference or benchmark. Students use data from the Michigan Apple Growers to compute and analyze the total amount of apple yield per acre. They work at centers to gain experiences in visualizing the magnitude of one million apples. Students also gain experience in using a grid as a resource to make better estimations.