Hold It!

WHAT YOU NEED

• Number Board (print, copy)
• Guess and Check (print, copy)
• Teaspoons (1 for each child)
• 3-oz cups (1 for each child)
• Beans

WHAT TO DO

1. Give each child more than 3 ounces of beans. Pass out the Number Board worksheet and have children focus on the numbers from 1 - 20.

2. Ask: "How many beans do you think you could hold in the palm of one hand, from 1 to 20 beans?" Write suggested guesses on the chalkboard. Check some of the guesses. If 15 was suggested have the children put a bean on each number from 1 to 15 on their number board. Ask, "Do you still think you can hold 15? Do you think you could hold more? fewer?"

3. Have the children put the 15 beans in one palm. Discuss the children's findings. Check other guesses and discuss why some children are getting different amounts than others.

4. Give each child a teaspoon and a 3-oz cup. First, children guess how many beans the container might hold, write down their guess on the Guess and Check sheet, then check how many beans they actually used to fill the container. Children then put beans on the numbers 1 to 20 to help them count how many beans they used, and write the number on the worksheet next to their guess.

TEACHING OPTIONS

You may wish to have children complete the page again using a different unit of measure. Discuss what happens if you use a larger or smaller unit of measure.