Before beginning an experiment at home, parents may want to consider an effective classroom process: First, teachers would give children a few math problems related to a skill that needs practice.Then, if the children don't know how to do the math, teachers would demonstrate it. Next, teachers might search online sources such as Worsley School's math and science pages for an experiment involving the skill. The class would then conduct the experiment and discuss results. Finally, the teacher would post-assess understanding by assigning some problems to solve. As do teachers, parents need to remember to have fun and not expect perfection.
Apply the process to an activity such as Worsley School's basketball percent experiments, which teach calculation of percentages. In "Basketball Elasticity," you drop a basketball from a measured height and record how high it rebounds using yardsticks or a metal measuring tape. Divide the rebound height by the original drop height to get a decimal number that is turned into a percentage of elasticity. If the ball is dropped from four feet and rebounds to four feet, the answer is "1.0" or a bounciness of 100%.
Record the results in a table, then conduct the test with other basketballs. Record and compare the results. Discuss what might make one ball earn a higher percentage than another. Were there any differences in how each ball was dropped?
Assess "on the run." Before moving on to another basketball percent experiment, ask the children a few mental math problems. What would the percentage be if the ball were dropped from four feet and rose to two feet? What if it were dropped from four feet and rose to one foot?
Reinforce the percentage lesson by trying Worsley's "Experimental Probability of Making a Shot." Children shoot baskets a certain number of times and record the results. Divide the number of baskets by the total number of shots. If a child makes five baskets, his answer will be ".50" or "50 percent." Explain that this equates to a 50% probability that he will make a basket the next time he shoots. Put another way, he is likely to make one basket for every two shots.
Let him try another set of ten shots. Ask him to compare the results to the first set. Ask him what his probability of making a basket is, based on the second set. Then, for a slam-dunk job of post-assessment, ask him his percentage of missed shots.