List of 40 or so real life items

mass of a teaspoon

height of a 3 year old ...



then for each put the answer in various different units.



This info forms the databank for the problem, invisible to kids.



Pupils now select a number (3-15 say) if it is 3 then you pick 3 items' names at random.



From each of the items one measurement/unit combo is picked at random



Mixed up on the screen appear 3 items, 3 numbers and 3 units, the task is to link them up correctly.



3 would be easy, 15 would be v hard - especially considering the estimating issues and unit choice issues.



I like the idea of an nrich problem that can be done and checked (not sure how) and then click a button and a new version appears, still containing challenge!



FURTHER CLARIFICATION:



I did mean to separate the item............. the number ............ and the unit, then get kids to link triples up.



Gordon and I have tried to make items where the numbers are quite varied, but it is clearly impossible to do so, considering the various unit conversions too, and the fact they're all to be estimates. I thought that clashes might add to the spice, if they're not too common.



MASS baby, lorry, an orange, a crisp, a grain of sand, an adult, a ship



LENGTH height of of tree, length of a car, length of a finger, diameter of a fly's eye, height of the Eiffel tower, length of a cello, length of your intestine, some famous bridge, equator, a marathon



TIME teacher's age, gestation of an elephant, time for cake to cook, one TV advert (24 sec on average according to Gordon's son, whom we forced to time, count and calculate), sprinter to run 100m



VOLUME capacity of a bath, car's petrol tank, saucepan, swimming pool, volume of Egypt's Great Pyramid



AREA football pitch, A4 paper, single bed sheet, postage stamp, area covered by 1 litre of wall paint.



TEMPERATURE human body, fridge, glacier, ??



SPEED train speed, walking speed, snail's speed, hair growth



I definitely thought of kids working at this away from the comp, I think that too much interactivity could become a pupil exercise in combinatorics.



I'm thinking about whether there could be a teacher option that lets the teacher print a jumble sheet to photocopy, and an answer sheet for use later...



I'm very unsure about the best ways to check, Say some kids picked 6, and get a medium tough question, clearly we could easily get them a printable answer sheet there and then, but, but, but, it seems v. silly.



I think they need time to discuss, calculate etc, I didn't want the existence of checking to be dependent on the computer remaining on continually until they're ready for answers.



I'm wondering if there is a way to make a generic checking table, where anyone can type in (or pick from BIG lists) the items, numbers and units, and then let the comp check that...



I'm aware that this problem comes from my love of randomly mixed problems, custom mixed every time... but I really love that set up, there's something about relying on the random, that I do a lot, and it's great!



I'm glad people liked it Mary