How much popcorn will our classroom hold?

This article illustrates a terrific integrated science and math exploration which was conducted with fifth-and sixth-grade students. The teacher started the lesson with a book called the Bea... See More

This article illustrates a terrific integrated science and math exploration which was conducted with fifth-and sixth-grade students. The teacher started the lesson with a book called the Bear story to elicit the question: How many liters of popcorn do you think it would take to fill our classroom? Students brainstormed and developed their own plan to fill classroom by popcorn. They can find the volume of the classroom by carrying out their plan, and then they would share their measuring strategies and measuring results. A class discussion on the similarities and differences in plans, procedures, and the results would be taken at the end of the class. The students would have the opportunities to discuss their plan with others and learn advantages from others’ plans. Students developed science-process skills like developing a plan, measurement, and collecting and interpreting data in the process of finding the classroom’s volume. Also, they learned how to applied mathematical process like determining an estimate, using benchmarks, and measuring in a meaningful way. Challenging upper elementary students to find the volume of their classroom creatively combines math and science would be a great way to develop their science learning abilities. As a future educator, I will often design effective activities to help my students understand and learn science concepts better.

Area/Perimeter/Volume Popcorn Fun

Great idea reading Bear story! Students like books read out loud and then making a connection. Clever details tying in the Bear book and popcorn with area, perimeter and volume.Real life and... See More

Great idea reading Bear story! Students like books read out loud and then making a connection. Clever details tying in the Bear book and popcorn with area, perimeter and volume.Real life and story life connection!

Volume of a Classroom

After a reading of the Bear story about Popcorn, students are challenged to determine how much popcorn their classroom will hold. They develop their plans and then are given a number of sim... See More

After a reading of the Bear story about Popcorn, students are challenged to determine how much popcorn their classroom will hold. They develop their plans and then are given a number of simple tools to determine the volume of the classroom. This is a good article that ties math and science through the understanding of volume. The reader could easily reproduce this same activity.

Popcorn in Your Classroom

This engaging activity is a "MUST DO" if you encourage problem solving, and inquiry based learning! One of the top lessons I've seen integrating Math and Science. Volume, perimeter, area, ... See More

This engaging activity is a "MUST DO" if you encourage problem solving, and inquiry based learning! One of the top lessons I've seen integrating Math and Science. Volume, perimeter, area, length, width...this project has it all. Detailed explanation and highly engaging for students to write descriptive, narrative or procedural styles as a follow-up in their science journals!

A brief review

This article describes an activity for upper elementary students to find the volume of their classroom creatively combines math and science. Number relationships is one of the key mathemati... See More

This article describes an activity for upper elementary students to find the volume of their classroom creatively combines math and science. Number relationships is one of the key mathematical principles or “Big Ideas” in Number Sense and Numeration. It is important to emphasize number relationships with students to help them learn how numbers are interconnected and how numbers can be used in meaningful ways. It is also indispensable of science learning. In this activity, teachers start the lesson with a book called the Bear story to elicit the question: How many liters of popcorn do you think it would take to fill our classroom? Students brainstorm the methods of fill classroom by popcorn. After discussion, students develop their own plan in groups. They find the volume by carry out their plan. Finally, students share their process to measure the volume and their answers. When the reports were completed, teachers and students took a class discussion on the similarities and differences in plans, materials, procedures, and the results of each of the groups. Therefore, students can rethink about their own process and learn from the discussion. This article integrated science and math exploration by engaging students in researching the classroom’s volume. Students can develop science-process skills and apply mathematical process by using number relationships. In conclusion, number relationships play an important role in both math and science. In the future, it is crucial to emphasise the importance to my students in my class.