Grade
4
Mobile Math: Missing Values
Look at the mobile below. What do you notice? What do you wonder?
Find the missing values so that the mobile is balanced.
![A mobile with two balanced strings has a value of 600. The left string has 3 triangles. The right string has 1 hexagon and 2 squares. Each square has a value of 81. What values do the hexagon and triangles have?](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/activity-of-the-day/AoD-Unit4_MissingValues1.png?itok=6ppwn6RR)
![A mobile with two balanced strings has an unknown value. The left string has 3 triangles. The right string has 1 hexagon and 2 squares. Each square has a value of 81. What values could the hexagon and triangles have?](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/inline-images/pQV1niKCzjcpxBQvCAosSK076BCRucMJEWPeq3xpH368k9IcLr.png?itok=xniisUz0)
The total value of the mobile is now up to you. What values could each of the pieces have that would allow the mobile to be balanced?
![A mobile with two balanced strings has an unknown value. The left string has 3 triangles. The right string has 1 hexagon and 2 squares. Each triangle has a value of 1-half. What values could the hexagon and squares have?](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/inline-images/tQg5TTmdcfFt9CHcNZiupFvOEGEs8BGKwbKeZ5DTjp5AYr5OaR.png?itok=0q5aAD2U)
If the value of the orange triangle is now ½, what values could each of the pieces have that would make the mobile be balanced?
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Reference for Educators
Sample problems and solutions