This is a great book because it uses pictures to explain estimating, and requires students to guess how many objects are in the picture. I would recommend this book to elementary students, especially late elementary. I think this would be a great book to use in a math classroom. ( )

00000946

I enjoyed using this book in the classroom however I felt as though it should be geared to a higher grade level. I felt like my students weren't fully capable to making a educated guess or estimation for all of the pictures provided. However, I did like the open interaction that it allowed for the classroom. It gave the students the opportunity to put on there thinking caps and really observe and do think alouds for each page of the book. ( )

Goldstone’s book models problem solving and reasoning processes by picturing colorful photos of lots of something, posing a question, and providing hints for the reader to arrive at estimates. Hints include training eyes to see groups of 10 or 100, comparing benchmarks of 100 or 1000 to a larger sample as well as clump counting and dividing pictures into grids. Goldstone also provides hints for guessing how long, how tall, or how heavy items are by using comparisons. The book is best taken in small doses, not all at once. Connecting students’ math understanding to the world of work, the author notes the likely jobs where people make use of estimating: writers estimate the number of words written; carpenters estimate lengths of wood; planners estimate crowds when preparing for events; scientists use photos to estimate changes in environment, all of which provide natural extensions for having students engage estimation as do professionals. ( )

Kind of 90s-looking photography, but still a good book for teaching kids how to estimate. ( )