Monday, January 24, 2011

Studying 3rd Grade MCAS Math--Perkins Style!

Sometimes kids feel as if they learn math in school and then they will never use it again. That’s just not true. People on the construction site of Old Colony need all their math skills. They use math all day, every day.

That’s why students everywhere have to study math. We’re going to do it, Perkins Style. We’ll show you a math question from a previous year’s MCAS test for third graders. Then we’ll give you another question using real data from the construction site.

Our students can study for their MCAS by solving both problems. Third graders, print these out and give them a try! We’ll show someone’s homework paper on the blog later on this week.

Question 3.1: This is a question from an MCAS test.


Here’s our Perkins’ version.

The Phase One of the Old Colony construction project, the one that’s happening right now, is building 116 homes for families. Phase Two, the next part, proposes to build 170 homes.

How many more homes are proposed to be built in the second phase of the project than the first phase?

A) 44 homes
B) 54 homes
C) 64 homes
D) 116 homes

How did you get your answer? Please show your work in the space below!