Planning a School Trip

6969 /www/nrich/html/content/id/6969/ 1 2011-02-01T00:00:01 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <mdoxml version="1.0"><br></br> This problem has been designed to work on in a group of about four. For more details about how you might go about doing this, please read the <a href="http://nrich.maths.org/6969&part=note">Teachers' Notes</a>.<br></br> <br></br> <div style="float: right;"><mdo:image height="243" width="200" alt="" src="bus.png"></mdo:image></div> <br></br> You are organising a school trip and you need to write a letter to parents to let them know about the day.<br></br> <br></br> You will need to print off and cut out these cards: <a href="/content/id/6969/SchoolTrip.doc">Word</a> or <a href="/content/id/6969/SchoolTrip.pdf">pdf</a>.<br></br> <br></br> Share the cards out between the members of the group.<br></br> <br></br> In your group read through the cards and find the one that describes in more detail what you have to do. You may find that some of the information on the cards is irrelevant!<br></br> <br></br> We would love to see the letters that you write, so please send them in and describe how you tackled the activity.<br></br> <br></br> <p><span style="font-style: italic;">This activity is taken from the ATM publication "We Can Work It Out!", a book of collaborative problem solving activity cards by Anitra Vickery and Mike Spooner. It is available from The Association of Teachers of Mathematics</span> <a href="http://www.atmbuy.net/act054" style="font-style: italic;">www.atmbuy.net/act054</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></p> <br></br></mdoxml> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <mdoxml version="1.0"><br></br> <p class="editorial">Natalie and Holly from Queen's Manor Primary School sent this letter they had written:</p> <br></br> Queens's Manor Primary School<br></br> Lysia Street<br></br> SW6<br></br> <br></br> 26/05/10<br></br> <br></br> Dear Parents/Carers<br></br> <br></br> On the 17th of June, Year 3 are going to the Golden Valley Wildlife Park. We will be leaving school at 10 past 9 and will arrive back at school at 3:45. It will cost £2.70 per child and 2 teachers and 3 adults will be joining them. The children will be able to bring a maximum of £1.00 spending money.<br></br> <br></br> The children are to be provided with a packed lunch or the school will be happy to give your child a free packed lunch if they have a school dinner. Your child is not allowed to bring glass bottles.<br></br> <br></br> Hope your child enjoys the school trip.<br></br> <br></br> From Miss Natalie and Miss Holly<br></br> <br></br> <p class="editorial">This letter is very clear - well done both of you for extracting the relevant information from all those cards. I'm not sure that the packed lunch will be free if the child has a school dinner, but I understand what you mean - children who have school dinner won't have to pay extra for a packed lunch. That's the way I understood it, anyway. Perhaps you don't agree?</p> <p class="editorial">Andrew and Laith from JESS Jumeirah Primary School in Dubai also worked on this activity. They sent in copies of their workings:</p> <p class="editorial"> <mdo:image height="623" width="450" src="schooltripworkings.jpg" alt=""></mdo:image></p> <p class="editorial"> <mdo:image height="623" width="450" src="schooltripworkings2.jpg" alt=""></mdo:image></p> <p class="editorial"> </p> <p class="editorial">Here is the letter they wrote:</p> <div>JESS Jumeirah Primary School</div> <div>Dubai</div> <div>UAE</div> <div>27th May 2010</div> <br></br> <div>Dear parents,</div> <br></br> <div>Your child will be going on a school trip on the 17th of June to the Wild Life Park, so that they can find out more about animals. They will leave school at 9:10 am and return after the end of school at 3:45 pm. The cost for each child will be £2.70. In addition they can take a maximum of £1.00 to spend at the Wild Life Park.</div> <br></br> <div>The children who have school dinners can have a packed lunch prepared in the school kitchen, all the other children need to bring a packed lunch prepared at home. This must not include glass bottles. In case it rains children must bring a rain coat but if it is sunny they will have to bring a hat as well as putting on sun lotion at home.</div> <br></br> <div>Yours sincerely,</div> <br></br> <div>Mr. Andrew Liew</div> <div>Mr. Laith Al Nabhani</div> <br></br> <div class="editorial">Very well done, all of you.</div> <br></br></mdoxml> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <mdoxml version="1.0"><div class="embed"> <h2>Planning a School Trip</h2> <br></br> This problem has been designed to work on in a group of about four. For more details about how you might go about doing this, please read the <a href="http://nrich.maths.org/6969&part=note">Teachers' Notes</a>.<br></br> <br></br> <div style="float: right;"><mdo:image alt="" height="243" src="bus.png" width="200"></mdo:image></div> <br></br> You are organising a school trip and you need to write a letter to parents to let them know about the day.<br></br> <br></br> You will need to print off and cut out these cards: <a href="/content/id/6969/SchoolTrip.doc">Word</a> or <a href="/content/id/6969/SchoolTrip.pdf">pdf</a>.<br></br> <br></br> Share the cards out between the members of the group.<br></br> <br></br> In your group read through the cards and find the one that describes in more detail what you have to do. You may find that some of the information on the cards is irrelevant!<br></br> <br></br> We would love to see the letters that you write, so please send them in and describe how you tackled the activity.<br></br> <br></br> <p><span style="font-style: italic;">This activity is taken from the ATM publication "We Can Work It Out!", a book of collaborative problem solving activity cards by Anitra Vickery and Mike Spooner. It is available from The Association of Teachers of Mathematics</span> <a href="http://www.atmbuy.net/act054" style="font-style: italic;">www.atmbuy.net/act054</a></p> </div> <br></br> <h3><span style="font-weight: bold;">Why do this problem?</span></h3> <div><a href="http://nrich.maths.org/6969&part=">This problem</a> will encourage learners to organise information, identify redundant information and to check their work.</div> <br></br> <div>The activity lends itself to collaborative working, both for children who are inexperienced at working in a group and children who are used to working in this way. By working together on this problem, the task is shared and therefore becomes more manageable than if working alone.</div> <br></br> Many NRICH tasks have been designed with group work in mind. <a href="http://nrich.maths.org/7011&part=">Here</a> we have gathered together a collection of short articles that outline the merits of collaborative work, together with examples of teachers' classroom practice.<br></br> <h3>Possible approach</h3> <div>This is an ideal problem for learners to tackle in groups of four. Allocating these clear roles (<a href="/content/id/6969/Roles.doc">Word</a>, <a href="/content/id/6969/Roles.pdf">pdf</a>) can help the group to work in a purposeful way - success on this task could be measured by how effectively the group works together as well as by the letters they compose. <a href="/content/id/6969/SimplifiedRoles.doc">This version</a> of the roles has been adapted for primary children.</div> <br></br> <div>Introduce the four group roles to the class. It may be appropriate, if this is the first time the class has worked in this way, to allocate particular roles to particular children. If the class works in roles over a series of lessons, it is desirable to make sure everyone experiences each role over time.</div> <br></br> <div>For suggestions of team-building maths tasks for use with classes unfamiliar with group work, take a look at <a href="http://nrich.maths.org/6933&part=">this article</a> and the accompanying resources.</div> <br></br> <div>Each group of four will need a copy of these cards (<a href="/content/id/6969/SchoolTrip.doc">Word</a>, <a href="/content/id/6969/SchoolTrip.pdf">pdf</a>), which should be shared between all members of the group. Ask the children to read through the cards and find the one that explains the task. Explain that the groups will feed back at the end of the session, sharing the ways they worked, what helped them and what got in the way. You could give each group a large sheet of flipchart paper on which to attach the letter that they write along with their thoughts about the way they worked etc. in preparation for the feedback.</div> <br></br> <div>While groups are working, label each table with a number or letter on a post-it note, and divide the board up with the groups as headings. Listen in on what groups are saying, and use the board to jot down comments and feedback to the children about the way they are working together.</div> <br></br> <div>You may choose to focus on the way learners are co-operating, for example:</div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;">Group A - Good to see you listening carefully to each other.</div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;">Group B - Facilitator - is everyone in your group contributing?</div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;">Group C - I like the way you are sorting the cards together.</div> <br></br> <div>Alternatively, your focus for feedback might be mathematical, for example:</div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;">Group A - I like the method you're using to calculate the discount on the entrance fee.</div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;">Group B - How do you know the arrival time back at school?</div> <br></br> <div>Make sure that while groups are working they are reminded of the need to be ready to present their work at the end, and that all are aware of how long they have left.</div> <br></br> <div>It might be best to display each group's poster and let everyone look at the other groups' work. You could then ask a few groups to read out their letter and to give more detail about the way they worked, leaving time for questions from the rest of the class.</div> <br></br> <h3>Key questions</h3> <div>If your focus is effective group work, this list of skills may be helpful (<a href="/content/id/6969/Skills.doc">Word</a>, <a href="/content/id/6969/Skills.pdf">pdf</a>). Ask learners to identify which skills they demonstrated, and which skills they need to develop further.</div> <br></br> <div>If your focus is mathematical, these prompts might be useful:</div> <div>How will you sort out all this information?</div> <div>What do you need to know? How can you find this out/work this out?</div> <div>How could you check that?</div> <br></br> <h3>Possible extension</h3> <div>For a very challenging problem, some groups could try <a href="http://nrich.maths.org/5992&part=">Zin Obelisk</a>, which also requires them to draw conclusions from information.</div> <br></br> <h3>Possible support</h3> <div>By working in groups with clearly assigned roles we are encouraging children to take responsibility for ensuring that everyone understands before the group moves on.</div> <br></br></mdoxml> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <mdoxml version="1.0">How will you sort out all this information? <br></br> What do you need to know? How can you find this out/work this out? <br></br> Don't forget to check your work as you're going along.<br></br></mdoxml> 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 Planning a School Trip You are organising a school trip and you need to write a letter to parents to let them know about the day. Use the cards to gather all the information you need. Using, Applying and Reasoning about Mathematics Selecting and using information Using, Applying and Reasoning about Mathematics Group worthy Handling, Processing and Representing Data Handling data Handling, Processing and Representing Data Sorting data Admin Upper primary mapping document