Tuesday, September 4, 2012
| By Alice Clements
| 264 views
In math, third-graders are reviewing place value of four- , five- , and six-digit numbers. To get an idea of what 1000 of something looks like, Mrs. Clements challenged the class to link 1000 paperclips together. Before starting the task, each student had to predict how far the chain would stretch. Some students thought it would run the length of the classroom, while others thought it might even stretch across the room twice!
Students worked together in teams and had to organize themselves before beginning the task. The groups decided to have each person clip together 10 paperclips and then pass that length to a collector who would connect 10 sets of 10 to make 100. Then, one person would move the chain of 100 to another collector who would assemble the 10 sets of 100.
The students were amazed to see that the length of 1000 paper clips stretched from the front side of the Thornwood Building steps all the way around to the back set. The class agreed that 1000 is much more than they ever imagined!
