Can Man Math

After doing a picture walk, a read-aloud and a Grand Conversation with one of my favourite books with a Grade 3/4 class this week, we decided to do a little math this morning, and investigate just how much work it might be for someone who collects cans for $ to save up for a winter coat.

I tried to take a differentiated approach that would allow students to have multiple entry points into the problem, and that would provide extensions for those students who might benefit from them.

The Question(s):
How many cans would the can man need to collect in order to save for a winter coat?

a) if cans are 5 cents each?
b) if cans are 10 cents?
c) 15 cents?

Winter Coats:
Goodwill - $12.00
Walmart - $69.00
Sport Check - $139.00

BONUS: If the Can Man collects about 50 cans a day, how long would it take him to collect enough cans to buy each coat?  Which coat do you think he will buy?  Why?

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Students worked with a partner to solve one or more of the problems.  Since -- earlier in the week -- we had been talking about what constitutes an effectively communicated solution to a problem, I asked them to check the criteria we had co-created before claiming, "we're done!" :D  They did so, and we also had a class conversation about one possible solution (the 10-cent cans/$12 coat scenario),  discussing how we might use shortcuts to calculate the number of cans needed, and how we could use a picture to effectively illustrate the math involved.

Reflections for the Reader/Teacher:   If you were doing this lesson with YOUR students, what might you do next? How could you extend the learning, and draw in a practical component in terms of social justice, using math, language or other subject areas?