Activity Description Practice estimation skills by determining the number of objects, the length of a line, or the area of a shape. Parameters: error tolerance. Estimator is one of the Interactivate assessment explorers.

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Estimator

Place in mathematics curriculum:

• Introduce students to the uses and limits of estimation
• Reinforce basic concepts in geometry such as simple shapes and area
• Show students the importance of comparing scales on different graphical displays

This activity allows users to practice estimation skills by attempting to determine the number of individual objects shown, estimating the length of a curve based upon a given scale or estimating the area of a shape also based upon a given scale. This activity would work well in groups of 2 for about 15-20 minutes if you use the exploration questions and 10-15 minutes otherwise.

Preparations for this activity:

• Encourage the students to estimate rather than measure or count
• Discuss how estimation is not as accurate as measurement
• Explain the difference between close, really close, and almost perfect (almost perfect is the most accurate)
• Suggest that the students eventually increase the difficulty level