Take a photograph that can be used as a stimulus for a maths learning experience in measurement or geometry. Upload it and list 3 open ended questions you would pose to the children. Suggest some enabling and extending prompts. Support your ideas with literature.

Mrs Beatty is really thirsty.

Which cup should she use so she can quench her thirst?

How can we measure how much water is in each cup if we both fill them to the top?

Which cup would hold the most jellybeans?

Enabling prompts:

Can you find other objects in the room that are the same size as the tall cup?

Can you find other objects in the room that are the same size as the shorter cup?

Draw both cups.

Extending prompts:

How many grey glasses would you need to fill the white mug?

Measure the circumference of each object.

Draw both cups including the symbols of Starbucks and Coca-Cola on your iPad using a drawing app.

“Measurement is also a strand of mathematics which can be shown to naturally link with many other parts of the school curriculum. Examples of measurement can be readily found in areas such as art, science, history, geography and music.” (Hurrell, 2015)

This photo shows objects that we use in everyday life and it gives the understanding of measuring capacity in laments terms. Looking at the height of the glass generally students would think that it holds more liquid than the shorter white mug. As a hands-on task student are able to see the difference and which would be the best one to use if you were really thirsty. This shows that this strand of measurement is evident in our everyday lives. With anything from a can of soda to how many litres it would take to fill the family car with petrol.

“Using open tasks effectively can lead to powerful learning.” (Sullivan & Lilburn, 2017)

As this previous quote states that providing students with open ended questions can lead to powerful learning. This can be gained by inviting the students to explore more ways from an open-ended question to achieve the best possible answer or answers. By doing their own valid research the student is able to learn in other mathematical areas such as questioning and reasoning. By learning these strategies at a primary school level this will further help them when in high school and further education.

References:

Hurrell, D. (2015) Measurement: Five considerations to add even more impact to your program. Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom Vol. 20. p.14–18.

Sullivan, P., & Lilburn, P. (2017). Open-ended maths activities: using ‘good’ questions to enhance learning in mathematics (Revised second edition.). Oxford University Press Australia.