Rubber Ducky, Where Are You?

Students search for hidden ducks in the classroom without collecting them and design their own method for keeping track of what they find. Discussion follows to compare methods used (tallies, numbers, dots, etc.) It would be fun to use this in the spring as an alternative to an egg hunt.

Weblink address (URL):

Rubber Ducky, Where Are You?

Standards & Objectives

Learning objectives:

Students will:

Count objects in a set without being able to touch them.
Create or choose a method to keep track when counting larger sets.
Compare methods of recording.

Essential and guiding questions:

How would you keep track of the ducks if we did this again?

[I’d use dots because it’s the fastest. I’d use numbers so I wouldn’t have to count when I was done.]

How did you decide what you would do to keep track of the ducks you found?

[I tried drawing ducks but it was too hard, so I switched to making lines. I didn’t know what to do so I looked at my friend’s.]

What did you to make sure you found all the ducks?

[I walked all around the room slowly to be sure that didn’t miss any. I just kept looking until you told us to stop.]

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level:

Applying

Extension suggestions:

Put a pile of rubber ducks on a desk. See if students are able to estimate how many are there. Have them make piles of five and then count by fives to see how many groups of 5 there are and then how many leftover. Do the same with piles of ten. Note whether the students change their estimate to get closer to the actual quantity as they begin to count.

If you purchase rubber ducks in different colors or costumes, have students create repeating patterns with them. They can work in pairs. The first student makes the pattern and the second student must extend the pattern. They can alternate being the pattern maker.

Act out the song. “Five Little Ducks” with larger numbers to practice taking one away.http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/fiveducks.htm

References

Contributors:

Angela Hamilton

Originator:

Ayers Institute for Learning & Innovation

eduToolbox® is a resource-sharing portal developed by the Ayers Institute for Learning & Innovation with collaborative support and funding from the Tennessee Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education's Math & Science Partnership program.