Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8

*Click to open and customize your own copy of the Estimating Lesson Plan.

This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Estimating, and supports the standard of using place value understanding to round multi-digit whole numbers to any place. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Ask students:

  • When was the last time you used estimating in the real world?
  • In what ways can estimating be helpful?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

  • Read the description on the Estimating topic page.
  • Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding. 
  • Have students read one of the Related Reading articles. Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Students take the Estimating Quiz, applying essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about estimating while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

  • Make-a-Movie: Produce a tutorial that explains how estimating can help you make a budget.
  • Make-a-Map: Create a concept map identifying the steps to estimate a distance using a map scale.
  • Creative Coding: Code a math problem that involves estimating.

More to Explore 

Geometry and Measurement Unit: Continue to build understanding around geometry and measurement by exploring more BrainPOP math topics.

Sortify: Rounding: ​​Challenges players to sort by attributes, such as amount, decimal place, and more in this learning game. 

Teacher Support Resources: