Penny Power

Subjects

Arts & Humanities
--Architecture
--Visual Arts
Mathematics
--Applied Math
--Probability
--Statistics

Grade

3-5
6-8
9-12

Brief Description

Pennies can be used for everything from teaching probability to challenging students creativity.

Objectives

Students will use pennies to

build towers and sculptures
test theories of probablilty.
practice and reinforce other math skills.

Keywords

penny, probability, penny tower, penny sculpture, million

Materials Needed

pennies in large quantities

Lesson Plan

Are your students collecting pennies for a good cause? Or maybe youre collecting pennies to see what 1,000 (or a million!) of something looks like? If youre surrounded by pennies, take advantage of them before you cash them in.

Stacking pennies. See which student (or pair of students) can create the tallest stack, or tower, of pennies.

Pitching pennies. Spread out 10 paper or plastic cups on a desktop. Label each cup with a different number/point value. Have students stand behind a line and pitch pennies at the cups. Have them keep track of their totals by adding the point values for each penny that lands in a cup. The student with the highest total is the class champion.

Sculpting with pennies. If you want to encourage real creativity, have students build with pennies! See what kinds of creative sculptures they might create. Perhaps your students will build a

More Penny Lessons from Education World

Million Dollar Mission
Students figure out whether it's more profitable to start with a penny and double their money every day for a month or to accept $1 million on the first of the month.
Coin Count and Classification
Students make a prediction about how 100 pennies will sort by decade or year and then test their predictions.

Lesson Plan Source

EducationWorld.com

Submitted By

Gary Hopkins

National Standards

FINE ARTS: Visual Arts
GRADES K - 4
NA-VA.K-4.1 Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes
NA-VA.K-4.2 Using Knowledge of Structures and Functions
GRADES 5 - 8
NA-VA.5-8.1 Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes
NA-VA.5-8.2 Using Knowledge of Structures and Functions
GRADES 9 - 12
NA-VA.9-12.1 Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes
NA-VA.9-12.2 Using Knowledge of Structures and Functions

MATHEMATICS: Number and Operations
GRADES 3 - 5
NM-NUM.3-5.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates
GRADES 6 - 8
NM-NUM.6-8.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates
GRADES 9 - 12
NM-NUM.9-12.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates

MATHEMATICS: Data Analysis and Probability
GRADES 3 - 5
NM-DATA.3-5.1 Formulate Questions That Can Be Addressed With Data and Collect, Organize, and Display Relevant Data to Answer
GRADES 6 - 8
NM-DATA.6-8.1 Formulate Questions That Can Be Addressed With Data and Collect, Organize, and Display Relevant Data to Answer
GRADES 9 - 12
NM-DATA.9-12.1 Formulate Questions That Can Be Addressed With Data and Collect, Organize, and Display Relevant Data to Answer