Why Do Students Learn to Estimate

One day Mary was helping her daughter, Claire, with her 4th grade math homework. The homework asked students to estimate the answer of 2731÷ 7. Both Mary and Claire knew the steps, or algorithm, for solving a long division problem. They figured that getting an exact answer is always better than estimating and they proceeded to solve the problem.

2731÷ 7
There are 3 7's in 27.

3 x 7=21

27-21=6         

Bring down the 3 next to the 6 to make 63
There are 9 7's in 63.

7x9= 63 

63-63= 0

Bring down the 1 next to the 0 to make 01
There are no whole 7's in 1 so put a 0 next to the 9.

Mary and Claire wrote the answer as 390 remainder 1

When Claire got her math homework back from her teacher she was stunned to see that she had gotten it wrong. She showed her mom and Mary called the teacher to find out why it was wrong.

Claire’s teacher said “Claire correctly did long division, but the problem asked for an estimate.”
Mary asked, “Why estimate if you can get the actual answer?”  
Claire’s teacher explained several reasons why learning to estimate is important.

1. Estimating shows a student understands a concept and the mathematical reasoning behind it. Without being allowed to follow a step-by-step process, estimating forces students to think about process.
2. Estimating can be done mentally and is convenient in day-to-day life in situations such as figuring out a tip or how many pies you will need at Thanksgiving.
3. Estimating requires creating a strategy which strengthens problem solving and logic skills. Some students estimated 2731÷ 7 by rounding 2731 to 2800 and said that the answer was a little less than 400. Other students rounded down to 2700 and said the answer was a little more than 390. Either way is fine but one way got a closer estimation. More importantly, they figured out alternate strategies.
4. Estimating forces a student to think about what a reasonable answer would be. Another student tried to do long division but got mixed up and said the answer was 39 with a Remainder 1. He didn’t notice that the answer was unreasonable.

Claire and Mary now understood why estimating is an important skill. They still had other questions about math. They decided it was time to try the free trial lesson at Mathnasium of Parker. They called Allison at 303-840-1184 and set it up. Join Claire and the many others who are making the choice to make math make sense. Call today.

This article was written by and owned by Cuttlefish Copywriting, www.cuttlefishcopywriting.com . It is copyright protected. Mathnasium of Parker has permission to use it. Other Mathnasium locations should contact Heather at [email protected] before using it.