Fruit Loop Fun in Math

One of the second grade common core standards involves giving the kids a problem solving project. The question asked was: Is it possible for second graders to estimate then count the number of Fruit Loops in a large bag? When I first asked the question and then dumped the bag out onto a tarp on the floor, most of the kids said no, they couldn't count them, there were too many. I asked if anyone could come up with a plan. They thought and thought. It was really fun to watch them problem solve and throw out ideas. One of the kids said, "How about we divide them into groups of twenty?", another child said "It will be easier if we do groups of ten". They voted and decided that would be their plan.  They worked together to divide and count them. At first they were putting them into piles on the tarp until one student asked if I had any little cups. Great idea and super problem solving. They all went back to their desks and estimated how many there were before they started counting.

 After several minutes the kids noticed that it was getting really hard to count all of the cups so one of the kids suggested that they put them in groups of ten because it would be easier to count by hundreds. We had groups of hundreds all over the room. Another child suggested that we 'organize' the hundreds into lines. They went back to their desks and re estimated before they counted. They were so impressed with themselves that they could work together to count 340 Fruit Loops in one big bag! Super fun and they worked so hard! I was so impressed too!