CROP MANAGEMENT THROUGH ESTIMATION

MASTER TEACHER  Lucio Calzada

GRADES 6-8

OVERVIEW
This lesson requires students to estimate in real world situations.  Through class interactions, video segments, hands on activities, cooperative learning, and assigned projects, students will learn the relevant uses of estimation.  The students will use estimation to predict the amount of soybeans in a container.  They will then watch Eddie Files:  Estimation, Gone to the Dogs to demonstrate the uses of estimation.  The students will finally research and manage a soybean crop.

ITV SERIES
Eddie Files:  Program in series Estimation, Gone to the Dogs.
 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The student will be able to:
*estimate the amount of objects in a container
*estimate the population of children in his/her city
*Use ratio and proportion to estimate quantities of objects in a given area
 

MATERIALS
one large cubic container
one small cubic container for each group
soy beans enough to fill the containers
measuring tape for each group
calculator for each group
pencils and paper for each student
ruler for each group

PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES
The students, already in their learning groups, (groups should be no more than 4 and no less than 3) are shown a large container filled with soy beans (or any other object of interest like M&Ms or Skittles).  The students are asked to estimate how many soy beans are in the large container.  Select a student to provide you with his/her estimation.  Once the student provides you his/her estimation, ask the student what led them to estimate that many.  Then ask the students to generate an estimation of the number of soybeans with their groups using anything they see in the room.  The teacher should have several instruments of measurement to include measuring tapes, rulers, and the small cubic containers.  Allow each group to arrive at an estimation.  Have the groups present their estimates and their methodology.  (Do not give them the count of the soy beans yet).
 

FOCUS FOR VIEWING
To give students a specific responsibility while viewing say, "Ms. Toliver's class faced a similar problem.  I want you to watch how her students solve a similar problem."
 

VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Start Video, Eddie Files:  Estimation:  Gone to the Dogs at the beginning.

Pause video after Ms. Toliver says, "So how many cat biscuits do you think were in the bin?"  Ask the students if they would like to review their estimates and reconsider the procedure.  Once you have given them time to reconsider their estimates, have each group share their results again.  Then tell the students how many soy beans are in the bin.  Resume tape.

Pause video after Ms. Toliver says, "And Eddie, you have to find out how many dogs are in New York City".  Ask the students, with their groups, to consider strategies Eddie might employ to tackle this problem.  Have the groups share their results.  Ask the students to listen carefully to the advise that the different people gave him and on how he decided to tackle the problem.  Resume tape.

Pause video after the actor says, "Do you think they count how many raisins are in a box of Raisin Bran?"  Ask the students, given what they did at the beginning of the lesson, how they might estimate how many raisins are in a large box of Raisin Bran.?  Once they share their answers, ask them to listen for clues on how Eddie might tackle the dog problem.  Resume tape.

Pause video after the actor says, "...in fact Adela, she's at the top."  Ask the students what uses a veterinarian has for estimation.  After some students respond, ask the students if anyone has come up with a new idea for Eddie to estimate the number of dogs in New York City?  Ask the students to listen closely for the use of estimation on insects and how they estimate bat counts.  Ask the students why it would be important for us to keep count of animals like bats.  After sharing some of their answers, ask them to listen to why the biologists think it is important to keep counts of animals like bats.  Resume tape.

Pause video after the actor says, "So you can have as many as about 400 or 500 per square foot."  Ask the students to draw a square foot on a sheet of paper so that they can picture the incredible amount of bats in a cave.  Ask the students to write in their journals information about how biologists keep count of endangered species in our world.  (The teacher could extend this point by having the students using the Internet to conduct research on endangered species, (http://wwwnceet.snre.umich.edu/Endspp/Endangered.html)  Have some students share their ideas.  Then ask the students if they have any new ideas on how Eddie might estimate the number of dogs in New York City.  Resume tape.

Pause video after the actor says, "My dad told me that the population in New City is about 7,000,000."  Ask the students to complete the calculations.  Ask the students to share their calculations with their groups.  Have the groups share their results with the class.  Then say to the students, "Let's see what Eddie had for his estimate." 

Stop video after the actor says, "I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a big day." 

POST-VIEWING ACTIVITY
Have the groups compare what they thought Eddie would estimate to what Eddie shared as his result.  The teacher now says, "Estimation is used everyday in all types of jobs.  In your math journals, write the different jobs that require the use of estimation.  After they complete their writing assignments, ask them to recall the estimation of soy bean at the beginning of class.  Say to the students, "Did you know that soy bean is one of the largest crops in the State of Texas?  I picked soybean in the beginning to bring to light the importance of soybean crops in the State of Texas."  Using the Internet, (http://agrinet.tamu.edu/products/soybeans.html) or (http://www.oilseeds.ort/asa/) or (http://www.agriculture.com/market/rsarchive/01roy5.html) or gather information necessary to determine how much the farmers depend on soybean and the uses of soybean.  Then have the students work with their groups to determine how they are going to determine current pricing for their crops and how many acres they would need to plant to have a profit of $75,000.  Remind the students that they need to keep in mind costs for the equipment and salaries for their employees.  At the end of the days lesson, have the students write what they have learned about estimation in their math journals.

ACTION PLAN
Assign each learning group the task of estimating how many children (between the ages of 1 day old to 17 years old) there are in the student's city.  The assignment should be completed over several days so that they have an opportunity to conduct research and information gathering from the library, their parents, the Internet, and other resources.  After several days, have the students present their estimates and how they arrived at their estimate.

EXTENSIONS
Science
Scientists sometimes have to determine the population of certain animals in a very large region through population samples of a smaller region.  They often use proportion and probability to estimate and project population growth.  Students can research and/or participate in the methods used to determine an estimated population of certain animals in a given area.  

Math
This lesson could be used as the beginning for a volume lesson.  The students could estimate the number of soybeans after determining the volume of the cube.

Updated:  April 01, 2008