Grade
1

Math in Our World: Two Tall Towers

Rita's tower measures 10 white beads + 10 red beads + 4 more white beads. Ebony's tower measures 10 white beads + 10 red beads + 10 more white beads.

Rita and Ebony used blocks to build some towers. They made the towers as tall as they could.

They used a bead string to measure the height of each tower.

  1. What do you notice? What do you wonder?
  2. Show or tell what you know about the heights of the towers. Use pictures, numbers, or math words.
  3. What math questions can you ask about the block towers? Answer all the questions you can!
  • Think about how many beads tall each tower is.
  • The colors of the beads can help you count.
  • There are 10 white beads, then 10 red beads, then 10 white beads, and so on.
  • You might compare the heights of the towers. Which tower is taller? How do you know? How many beads taller is it?
  • Show your work to someone else, and explain your thinking. Did they understand?
  • Ask whether they have any other questions you can answer!

Find some blocks or other small objects and have a tower building contest with a friend or family member. Write a story problem about your towers and share it with us!

Printable Version

Google doc for printing and copying

Seesaw Version

Activity for the Seesaw platform

Reference for Educators

Sample problems and solutions