The teacher needs a clear
plastic cup, a bottle of water and approximately eighty (80) pennies.
The teacher says:
"Let’s fill this plastic cup with water."
The teacher fills the plastic cup with
water.
"Let’s drop a penny into the water."
The teacher drops a penny into the
plastic cup of water.
"How many pennies can we
drop into the plastic cup BEFORE the water overflows?"
The teacher moves the plastic cup a
little and the water overflows a little bit.
The teacher writes the predictions
of the students on the blackboard.
The teacher puts the pennies into the
plastic cup. The class and the teacher count the pennies.
"Let’s count."
The teacher points to the first penny
and says:
"One…"
The class and the teacher (while she
drops another penny into the plastic cup of water) continue:
"Two… three… four…"
The teacher needs to pay attention
to the predictions. If the number of pennies in the plastic cup
is greater than the numbers mentioned by the students in their predictions,
the teacher says:
