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Math Lesson: Toss Coins for "Cash"

Subjects

Mathematics
--Applied Math

Grade

3-5
6-8

Brief Description

Students turn their coin tosses into “cash” for their team.

Objectives

Students will

  • toss coins at a game board with the numbers 1 to 10 scattered on it.
  • multiply the value of the coin by the number the coin lands on.
  • add the students’ coin values to arrive at a team total.

Keywords

money, coin toss, coin value, value, team game

Materials Needed

  • a collection of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters
  • pencil and paper
  • a game board (see suggestions immediately below)

Game Board Ideas

For this activity, you will need to create a game board at which students will toss their coins. Make it easy on yourself by using one of these simple ideas.

  • Use chalk to mark on the floor/playground surface a 4-foot-square area divided into sixteen 12- x12-inch squares. Randomly place the numbers from 1 to 10 in one of the squares. Randomly number the remaining 6 squares from 5 to 10. (The 16-square grid will include one 1, 2, 3, and 4 and two 5s, 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s, and 10s.) Have students toss coins at the numbers on the chalk outline. Coins that fall outside the marked area will yield a value of “0”; or you might give students a second opportunity to toss missed coins.
  • Glue 10 plastic cups to a sheet of poster board. (Alternate idea: Use brads to fasten the ten cups to the poster board.) Randomly write the number 1 beneath one of the cups, the number 2 beneath another, and so on until each cup is numbered. Students will take turns tossing their coins into the cups. A missed toss will receive a value of 0 (zero); or you might give students a second opportunity to toss missed coins.

Lesson Plan

Arrange students into four or five teams and have each team line up.

  • Give the first student on each team a penny, nickel, dime and quarter.
  • Have the student toss each coin at the game board (see game board ideas above).
  • He or she will “do the math” to figure out the “value” of the toss. Multiply the value of the penny (1) times the number on the game board on which the penny landed; add the value of the nickel (5) times the number it landed on; then add the value of the dime (10) times the number it landed on; and, finally, add the value of the quarter (25) times the number it landed on.
  • When calculations for this first round are completed, that first student will hand the four coins to the next member of his/her team.
  • Then give the first student on the second team four coins and have him/her toss the coins and figure out the value of his/her toss.
  • Continue with the first students on the other teams.
  • When the first student on each team has tossed the team’s coins, repeat the activity with the second students on each team.
  • After the second students have tossed their coins, add the value of their toss to the value of the tosses made by the first students.

Continue the game until all students on all teams have tossed their coins, figured the value of their toss, and added that value to the value of previous team members’ tosses. The team with the highest total is declared the winners.

On Their Own...

Students might create their own game boards and play the game among friends. They can do that by using cardboard egg cartons and randomly numbering the 12 egg compartments from 1 to 10; the two remaining egg sections will remain numberless.

Assessment

As the game is played, each student can use pencil and paper to keep track of the value of each student’s coin tosses. Check students’ math.

Lesson Plan Source

EducationWorld.com

Submitted By

Gary Hopkins

National Standards

MATHEMATICS: Number and Operations
GRADES 3 – 5

NM-NUM.3-5.1
Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
NM-NUM.3-5.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates
GRADES 6 – 8
NM-NUM.6-8.1
Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
NM-NUM.6-8.3
Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates

MATHEMATICS: Measurement (Money)
GRADES 3 - 5

NM-MEA.3-5.1
Understand Measurable Attributes of Objects and the Units, Systems, and Processes of Measurement
NM-MEA.3-5.2
Apply Appropriate Techniques, Tools, and Formulas to Determine Measurements GRADES 6 - 8
NM-MEA.6-8.1
Understand Measurable Attributes of Objects and the Units, Systems, and Processes of Measurement
NM-MEA.6-8.2 Apply Appropriate Techniques, Tools, and Formulas to Determine Measurements

Find links to more math lesson ideas in these Education World archives:

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Daily Lesson Plans -- Math
Lesson Planning/Math Archive
Curriculum/Math Archive
Math Subject Center
Teacher-Submitted Lessons -- Math
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