Standing Room Only

This activity lends itself to students working co-operatively. Organise the students into mixedability teams of three. Give each member one of the statements in the speech bubbles. They may read it to the others, but they cannot pass it over to them. They work together to solve question 1. When the group thinks it is solved, each member reads their statement and checks that it was used in the solution.
Groups having difficulty could try a simpler example, such as a stadium that has four sections, five rows in each section, and 10 seats in each row. Highlight this use of a simpler approach as a good problem-solving strategy for them to use in the future.
Ways of solving the questions may then be shared between the groups. Guide the discussion by asking “Which of the methods is the most efficient?”
Discuss the equation 12 x 30 x 80 =  as a model of an efficient way of solving this type of problem. Students could be asked to make up other problems that would be solved by multiplying each part of the given information.

Answers to Activity

1. 28 800
2. Mereana’s estimate is the closest.