The post office and employees that deliver the mail require citizens to purchase and affix postage stamps to each piece of mail that is delivered. Instruct students to show the current price of a stamp using tens and ones blocks, thus designating each digit's place value. Show the class different pieces of mail requiring various amounts of postage to extend the activity and demonstrate other amounts in the tens and ones place.
Chefs aid the community by providing nutritious foodstuffs, but preparing them involves the use of measurement and fractions. Make a batch of no-bake and edible play dough with the students requiring them to measure and combine dry and wet ingredients. Divide the dough into section such as 1/2, 1/4 and 1/3 to discuss fractions with the class. Challenge the students to divide the dough, as evenly as possible, into sections representing the number of children in the class so each student may take some play dough home in a sealed plastic bag.
Police officers can fine citizens for their minor wrongdoings that may endanger the health and well-being of other community members. Encourage students to draw a speeding ticket and a jaywalking ticket with the amount of the fine as created by each student. Instruct each student to add the money for each ticket to compute the total amount of fines given through the tickets. Challenge students by creating fine amounts that are two-digit numbers.
Paramedics and doctors are those community helpers that work diligently to save the lives of people and ensure that each patient is healthy. Instruct students to use their first and middle fingers to find their pulse and count the number of beats per minute, as timed by the teacher, that their heart beats. Write the results on the board and graph the class results in a bar graph using the overhead projector and a piece of transparent grid paper.