Fill a clear jar with small candies, such as jelly beans. Set the jar on a flat surface.
Ask students to guess how many candies are inside the jar. Invite them to share their guesses, and ask children why they chose their numbers.
Explain to children that the guesses they made are called estimations. Define estimation for children, and explain to them reasons why people make estimations.
Inform children that estimates aren't just random numbers, but they are numbers that are close to the actual number. For example, when estimating a large quantity of items, five likely isn't a good estimate.
Fill a small clear bowl with 10 candies and set it next to the jar of candies. Tell students that the bowl contains 10 candies and prompt them to use the candies in the bowl as a reference point to estimate how many candies are in the jar.
Ask children to share their new estimations. Discuss how a reference should be used to base estimations on. For example, when trying to estimate the amount of people in a room, they should look at the size of the room and the size of the people in the room to make an estimate.
Count the total number of candies inside the jar. Compare the total number of candies to the estimates that students have made.