Pocket money 1

Activity 1

Students need access to toy money if you want them to model sharing the amount shown in this activity. As there are three car cleaners, the total amount will need to be divided by three to calculate how much each individual receives.

Students frequently solve such sharing problems by using equal addition methods, for example, ? +  ? + ? = 12, and find the value of ? by trial and improvement. Although this is a productive method, it can be cumbersome with more complex amounts. Students need to be shown the efficiency of a division strategy.

Sharing out $10 cannot be done exactly. The closest possible individual amount is $3.30, which leaves 10 cents  remaining. Students will have various ideas about how to allocate this extra money.

Activity 2

Students should look for combinations of items that produce whole dollar amounts. For example, nachos and either an eggburger or spicy wedges add to exactly $5. The 5 cent component of the price for Hawaiian or Paradise burgers must be matched by buying sauce at 55 cents. An interesting scenario is sauce, Paradise burger, and milkshake, but it would be unusual for sauce to be eaten without chips.

The practical considerations must be taken into account when determining whether solutions are correct. For example, a lunch of two colas and two milkshakes is not sensible. However, a lemonade, a milkshake, and a steakburger might be.

Activity 1

1. 

Sandy’s share:

• Week 1: $2
• Week 2: $4
• Week 3: $3

2.

They could each have $3.30. This leaves 10 cents. Students might come up with ideas, such as share the money equally and spend what is left over on something they can share or one of them takes $3.40, and next time this happens, a different person takes the extra money.

Activity 2

Examples of answers:

• Dale: cola, chips, steakburger
• Kim: spicy wedges, eggburger, lemonade
• Sandy: chips, sauce, Paradise burger

Note: It is possible for a student to suggest that one of the children orders 2 lots of chips and an eggburger or 2 colas and nachos, depending on how the question is interpreted.

It is also possible that students may suggest that Dale, Kim, or Sandy may not spend all their $5, for example, a  Paradise burger and a milkshake would cost $4.45.