What do you get at the EKKA?

The EKKA is the Royal Queensland Show which is held annually at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground. Breeders show off their farm animals, the best jam or the best cake is judged, not to mention the fashion parades, dancing dogs and the rides and of course the show bags. So here is a show bag problem. Ann has tried this problem out in Canberra and found that the numbers chosen made for some very revealing information about the ?Year 3-4 class that she was working with..

Show Bags

My friend the /Grade 1 teacher is going to make show bags with her class. They are going to swap them with the class next door. The class has to make 26 show bags.

This is what they have decided to put into each bag:

2 bouncey balls

5 balloons

3 dice

10 counters

4 sticks of chalk

My friend wants to know how many of each item she needs to buy ready for the show bags. I said you would work it out for her. She also wondered how many items they would be packing altogether.

Sting in the Tail

Bouncey balls come in packets of 10.

Balloons come in packets of 10 as well.

Dice come in packets of 6. Counters come in bags of 50.

Chalk comes in boxes of 12 sticks.

How many packets of each item will she need to buy?

While on the subject of show bags, what a hot topic for some data collection.

What should be in a Perfect Show Bag?

What 6 things would you like to have in your perfect show bag?

Are these the same or different to things that the rest of the class would like in their show bag?

How could you decide what to put into a show bag for the boys/girls in your class?

How could you decide what to put into a show bag that suited the whole class?

What data/information will you need to collect to be sure that you have made the best decisions?

Think about how to present your information clearly to the class to see if they agree.

If you try thin idea out, expect it to last for more than one lesson, but do send us your ideas with supporting data and we may put it on the blog for others to see. Who knows maybe a manufacturer would listen and next year you might have the perfect show bag.