Lesson Plan for Brownie Girl Scout Try-it "Math Fun"

Objective
Girls will do activities to earn their Math Try It patch. They will learn that math is used every day in so many ways. They will learn that math is important and it can be a lot of fun!

Materials:
"My Numbers" sheet
Pencil or marker
Scale
Tape measure
Several jars of different sizes
Baby food jar for each girl
Small items such as pennies, small candy, and/or buttons
Small edible items-goldfish, raisins, cheerios, M&Ms
Slips of paper
Small prizes
Time line
paper
Markers
Math War
Count Down
Tri-ominos
Dominoes
Playing cards

Procedure:
1. Girls will read statements on "My Numbers" sheet and fill in their age, weight, number of family members, and other pertinent numbers to describe themselves. We will weigh and measure each girl using a scale and a tape measure so they will have those numbers to fill in on their sheet. Girls will decorate the border with numbers and decorations.
2. Girls will look at jars filled with small items. Girls will estimate the number of items in each jar and write the number on a piece of paper. After everyone has had a turn to guess, the group will count together to find out exactly how many of each item are in each jar. The girl that gets closest to the right answer will win a small prize. Everyone will share the contents of the jars as appropriate, i.e. candy, as a treat.
3. Each girl will fill a baby food jar according to the number of each item stated. The leader will state how many of each item to put in the jar, for example, "put 10 M&M's in the jar" and "Put 6 pretzels into the jar," etc until the jar is filled.
4. Each girl will get a time line which will simply be a sheet of paper cut in half longways and taped together to make a long time line with the numbers from 1-10 on it. Each number represents an age Then each girl will draw pictures or write words to tell what things happened to them at what ages. For example, at age 1, they may write or draw a picture to symbolize that they learned to walk. At age 3 they may write or draw a picture that shows that they started preschool. They should try to draw or write something for each age even though they are not yet 10 years old. They can predict the things they may do at those ages.
5. Girls will make up and use an alphabet code. Each letter of the alphabet will be assigned a different number and girls can then use the numbers to write out a message. Girls will exchange messages and figure them out using the number code.
6. Girls will use any remaining time to play math and number games such as Countdown, Tri-ominoes, Dominoes, and Math War. Girls will have to use numbers to play these games!