Curriculum Area: Math

Time Required: 20-minute class period

Materials Needed:

• It All Adds Up! Student Reproducible  (PDF)
• Pencils

Directions:

1. Discuss with students how much paper they think one person can recycle in a year.
2. Hand out reproducible. Have students solve the problems by themselves or, if the material will be challenging for them, in groups.
3. If the students have done the work on their own, you may want to ask them to trade papers with a classmate and check each other’s work.

Extension Activity: You can use this exercise as a springboard for discussion on how small actions made by many people can add up. Can your students think of other times when each individual is an important part of a whole? Examples may include: charitable giving, voting, or volunteering in a neighborhood community project.

Reproducible 3 Answers: 1. b: 342/6 = 57; 2. a: 50 percent
of 100 million tons is 50 million tons (1 percent = 1 million tons); therefore, 55 (percent) x 1 (million tons) = 55 million tons; 3. b: 3 (tons) x 3.3 (cubic yards) = 9.9 cubic yards; 4. b: 9 (schools) x 3 (tons) = 27 tons; 5. a: 2,000 (schools) x 3 (tons) = 6,000 tons

Additional Resources for Teachers