Counting on a Career

Engage/ Inquiry (20 minutes): For this section, students will need some type of counters (jelly beans, dog biscuits, tiles, anything to count) 50 per child or group, markers, and 1 piece of chart paper per group. This activity works well with groups of two or three but may be differentiated to allow for students to work individually if they prefer to do so. The counters will represent the dog bones in the scenario below.

My dog’s veterinarian prescribed more dog bones for my dog to chew, so that he doesn’t chew my shoes.  She said that my dog, Bubba, needs three bones each week, for fourteen weeks.  How many bones do I need to buy?  Use the counters (jelly beans, biscuits, tiles,) to illustrate how you would solve the problem, and draw the picture on paper.  On a sheet of paper, have students identify what information they KNOW from the problem and what information they need to FIND.  Have students set up the counters showing how they solve the problem.  (Note: There are more counters than they need if 50 are given to each student/group).

Direct instruction (10-15 minutes):  The purpose of the direct instruction is for students to understand how solving multiplication through word problems prepares them for college and career readiness.  By making connections from equations and explanations, students will then begin to understand how to solve for an unknown. By encouraging students to show “the knows” in a visual, explaining them in written words (May be done verbally as differentiation) and then writing the equation, students will make connections to practical ways to understand how to solve multiplication problems in real life situations.

Take the word problem from the start of the day and have students identify what information they knew from the problem, and identify what they had to solve. If time allows, you may choose to ask students which ones have pets, and what special things they do for their pets. This will bring further sharing and connections to the classroom.

• There are other jobs where people need to use multiplication or division.  In fact, it happens all of the time.  Next we will watch a video.  As you watch, think about how this person might use multiplication or division to find the answer to a problem.  
• Pharmacists Video:  https://www.careeronestop.org/videos/careeronestop-videos.aspx?videocode=29105100

CareerOneStop. (2014, November 10). Retrieved February 2, 2017, from https://www.careeronestop.org/videos/careeronestop-videos.aspx?videocode...

• After the video, students turn and talk to their partners to share their answers to the following:
• a) What is a pharmacist and b) How might a pharmacist use multiplication and division? 
• This gives each student the opportunity to further process their own thinking as well as practice listening to someone else’s thinking.  Each pair lists their top 3 ideas about what a pharmacist does and how multiplication and division might be used.
• Lead a whole group discussion by asking each pair to give their top idea.

Explore

• Now students are going to work as pharmacists, solving for an unknown (these cards have been differentiated for different levels of problem solving ability using reasoning, multiplication, and division.  (Two versions of each are included, focusing on finding different variables.)
• To fully solve and understand this problem, students are going to use the MTV, "Making Thinking Visible", disciplinary literacy strategy, with some specific requirements listed below.  MTV uses creativity and visualization to help students express what they know.  They are then encouraged to verbally share their thinking process and an explanation of the visual representation.
• As the “pharmacists” students will solve a problem by identifying what they know, what they have to find out (solve) and will identify if they have to multiply, divide, or do both.  They will illustrate how to solve, write how they solved it in words, write the algorithm, and show the solution process.
• Give each pair (trio or single okay) of students a sheet of 11 x 17 paper.  Make markers and/or colored pencils available. 
• Start by giving students one of the Prescription Problems and approximately 15 minutes to decide the dosage and create explanations. 
• As students work, teacher will circulate around the room as the facilitator, checking work and asking questions.

Prescription Problems are attached to this lesson. (Prescription Cards)
(Teacher Preview of word problems)
1A)  A patient needs to take Amoxicillin.   His doctor has prescribed one pill, two times a day. If he needs to take his prescription for 10 days, how many pills does the pharmacist need to put in the bottle for the patient?
1B) A patient needs to take Amoxicillin.   His doctor has prescribed one pill, two times a day.  If the pharmacist gives him 20 pills, how many days will he need to take his medicine?
2A) A patient needs to take 1 teaspoon of medicine three times a day for 7 days. How many teaspoons does the pharmacist need to prepare for the patient?
2B)  A patient needs to take 1 teaspoon of medicine   ____ times a day for 7 days.  If the pharmacist prepares 21 teaspoons, how many times a day does the patient need to take the medication?
3A) A new shipment of 108 prescription bags arrived at the pharmacy.  The bags will be evenly shared with three pharmacists.  How many will each pharmacist receive?
3B) A new shipment of 108 prescription bags arrived at the pharmacy.  If each pharmacist receives three dozen bags, how many pharmacists are there?
 
Explain (15 minutes)

• Part A: When pairs have completed their explanations, organize the students by Prescription Problem.  Put all the 1A’s together, all the 2A’s together, and all the 3A’s together, and do the same for each ‘B’ set.

Each pair will present their description to the other students who had the same Prescription Problem they did. Each group has 2 goals:1) Come to consensus on the correct dosage. 2)Note similarities and differences in how each pair solved the problem.

• Part B:  Have each student draw a t-chart in their math notebooks or on a plain sheet of paper.  As the group works on the similarities and differences, each student keeps their own notes.

 
(T-Chart Sample) Prescription Problem #_____
 

    Similarities in deciding the dosage
           Differences in deciding the dosage

• Circulate as students work, asking questions and checking progress.

Further Understanding (20 minutes)
Check for Understanding
Pharmacist – Kids Work! (Know It All)

Use the interactive white board to project the Pharmacist – Kids Work! video, or students can visit this site and engage 1:1. For the Quick Write: Go back to the essential question: How are multiplication and division related to real world skills?

Extension: Have students apply the same skill set to another profession of their choosing. Students will create their own problems to solve.

Differentiation: Additional 1:1 extension can be found at Khan Academy. This link extends with the unknown in places other than the answer for multiplication and division. https://www.khanacademy.org/math/cc-third-grade-math/cc-3rd-mult-div-topic/cc-3rd-relate-mult-div/v/unknowns-with-multiplication-and-division

Posters, t-charts, use of the Kids Work! video, and the exit ticket serve as formative assessments of student understanding.

(T-Chart Sample) Prescription Problem #_____

    Similarities in deciding the dosage
        Differences in deciding the dosage