Fractions and Chocolate - a match made in heaven!
The children were delighted last week when they came in after break to find three tables in the room with six blocks of chocolate sitting on top! Here are some of their initial responses:
"Mmmmmmm chocolate!"
"I think we will play a game." - Grace
"I want to eat it!" – Freddie
"I thought they were pencils." – Louiza
"I thought it was Julie’s birthday."
"Can I eat it?"
"We could play who can eat it the fastest."
"That’s pretty weird."
"The teachers love us so much they want to give us chocolate!"
The chocolate was actually for a maths challenge that the whole LC participated in. The investigation is described below.
Table one has one block of chocolate on it, table 2 has two blocks of chocolate on it and table 3 has three blocks of chocolate on it.
Now ... outside the room is 10 children. They are all lined up ready to go in and eat the chocolate. These children are allowed to come in one at a time and can enter when the person in front of them has sat down. When a child enters the room they ask themself this question:
"If the chocolate on the table I sit at is to be shared out equally when I sit down, which would be the best table to sit at?"
The students who were observing the investigation recorded in their maths books where the 10 children chose to sit. They were also involved in an ongoing discussion as the task was underway. Would they have sat on the table that Oskar had chosen? Why or why not?
Setting the scene........
The 10 children who had to choose what table to sit at, in order to get the most chocolate!
One by one the children come in the room and decided which table they would join.
When the children sat down at a table of their choice, their responses were recorded:
Where would you sit to get the most chocolate?
1. Isabella - I’m sitting here because there are three blocks.
2. Zoe - I’m going here because there is more chocolate because you get one and split the other.
3. Lola - Because three is an odd number and you might not be able to share it that well.
4. Themi - There is no one else on this table.
5. Eleanor - This table has two blocks so we would each get one.
6. Isabella L – We will each get one each.
7. Charlotte – Too hard to decide.
8. Oskar – Themi will get half and I’ll get half.
9. Ed – The total of the chocolate on each table is 600g, 400g and 200g and I am trying to work out how much in each pack.
10. Ace – What happens is three has the most but there are three people on every table but this table has three but this one you only have to share the smallest amount. This will go down less.
After the chocolate challenge the children explored the fraction 'half'. They had to tell us everything they knew about 'half' and represent it in as many ways as possible. Some of their work samples are included in this post.
Students observing the chocolate challenge and recording the results.
Using counters to show 'half'.
Finding different ways to represent on half.
