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Topic: Arithmetic. Estimation

Grade Level: 4 - 5

Name of Activity: Average Hands

Materials Needed: four sets of cards numbered 1 - 10, paper and pencil. score sheet

Description of Activity:

Divide students into groups of two or three Each player is to be dealt twelve cards. When the students get their cards, they arrange them into three hands: one of three cards, one of four cards, and one of five cards. They then lay their hands face down in front of them. When the hands have all been arranged and placed down, all players turn over their three - card hands. The students then find the average of the three cards. The players round their averages to the nearest whole number. The player with the highest average receives three points. If there is a tie, both players get three points. The steps are repeated for the four and five - card hands. In these cases, students with the highest averages receive four and five points, respectively. The game continues until one player reaches 100 points. The first player to 100 points wins!

** This can be adjusted to addition or subtraction for younger students or even multiplication and division for this age group.

** This can be adjusted to average or again, multiply, divide, etc. a greater number of cards.

Wisconsin Center for Education Research.