Grade
1

Math in Our World: Three Big Buckets

Three big buckets each show a name—Kia, Juan, or Raven. The kids arranged some shells in 4 rows. Three rows have 5 shells and 1 row has 2 shells.

Kia, Juan, and Raven went to the beach today. They found these shells along the shore.

  1. What do you notice? What do you wonder?
  2. Use pictures, numbers, or math words to show or tell what you know about the shells.
  3. What math questions can you ask about the shells and the buckets? Answer all the questions you can!
  • Think about how many shells there are in all. You can use groups of 5 to help you find the total.
  • How many shells could go in Kia’s bucket? Juan’s bucket? Raven’s bucket? Do you think it’s possible for them to share the shells fairly? Why or why not?
  • How can you write an addition equation that matches the situation?
  • Show your work to someone else, and explain your thinking. Did they understand?
  • Ask whether they have any other questions you can answer!

Find three empty buckets, boxes, or bags. Use them to organize some toys or other small objects. Make up your own story problem with the results and share it with us!

Printable Version

Google doc for printing and copying

Reference for Educators

Sample problems and solutions