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HOW DO WE SPEND OUR LIVES?


Hi All,
Did you ever consider the question, HOW DO WE SPEND OUR LIVES?



This is a great math project problem that does just that. It's for Grades 3 - 6 and involves Multiplication, Division, Addition, Time, Data Collection, Elapsed Time, and Time Conversions. It can take three or four class periods depending on how you want to pace it, but it begins with a simple idea.

We ask students to find out how long it takes them to complete a simple common task, such as brushing their teeth or tying their shoes. Students time themselves, record the information and then share it back with the class.



The teacher then asks, if you spend two minutes brushing your teeth each night, how many minutes do you do that in a week? In a month? In a year? In a lifetime?



To answer these questions students engage in multiplication, work with time conversions, look carefully at the calendar, and collect data. The project culminates in students creating a cartoon strip that shows the progression of the minutes/hours/days/months/years spent on doing an everyday task across a lifetime.



The scanned lesson plan goes in depth explaining the various steps in this project, but the point is that we can use math to examine our time spent and understand the magnitude of accumulated time on tasks.

Here's a link to the lesson plans and accompanying black line master support materials: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bz_icIC7M-flkg1z3JbSpJfv_xXVLat_/view?usp=sharing

Hope you are all staying well and having a good time with the math!

Best,
Bob



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