Noah
Why do this
problem?
Introducing humour into maths does add to the enjoyment - and
the children will find
this activity
funny. It is a good opportunity for them to practise
counting and to record findings in different ways. And
there's the added bonus that everyone could have a
different answer and be right.
Possible approach
You could either precede or follow this investigation by
reading the book 'One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab - A Counting by
Feet Book' by April Pulley Sayre ad Jeff Sayre (published by
Candlewick Press, 2003 ISBN 0-7636-1406-8), in which counting
right up to a hundred is achieved through combinations of
snails, people, dogs, insects, spiders and crabs.
But if you can't get hold of it, it's worth doing this as a
whole class activity.
You could:
- Ask for suggestions and encourage the children to come to
the board and draw their animals. Count the number of creatures
each child draws and discuss who has drawn the least, the most,
the same as ... etc.
- Give the children playdough and 12 equal lengths of straw
each so that they can make the creatures - and put them into
groups of 12 legs for a display.
- Let each child draw a picture, write the number sentence
below it (eg $6 \: + \:4 \; + \; 2 \; = \; 12$) and make them
all into a class zig-zag book - Our Story of Twelve.
- Give each group of children a different number of legs to
investigate and ask them to make their own group zig-zag
book.
Key questions
What creatures could there be?
How many legs do they each have?
What's the greatest number of creatures he could have seen?
What's the smallest number of creatures he could have seen?
Possible extension
You could ask questions such as: What if ... there were twelve
creatures? How many legs could that be?