A few months ago we found some wooden cubes in one of the shops we've come to know as a 'Dollar Dazzler'. Always on the look out for maths equipment we brought them home and began to play with them. They seemed to have a lot of potential for activities, games and investigations so we went into classrooms with them. The students enjoyed working with the blocks and they responded really well to the mathematical thinking that was required by the activities we created around them. We have since used some of the activities at teacher workshops and have been asked repeatedly to publish the activities and ideas. Here are examples of the activities associated with:

• Level 1: Grades 1 - 3
• Level 2: Grades 4 - 5
• Level 3: Grades 6 - 7

Soon after publishing this series, we discovered that the supply of wooden blocks from the Dollar Dazzler shops was not reliable. We have managed to source a manufacturer of blocks in fabulous colours, and wil soon be able to offer these at $3.85 per set of 98 (nearly 100!). Class sets are also available.

Level 1: Grades 1 - 3

Reflection
How close was your estimate?
What information did you use to help you make your estimate?
How was the information you used helpful/unhelpful?
What can you do next time to make sure you get a close estimate?

Application
You can use this activity to:

• provide a risk free environment for estimating
• improve estimation and measuring skill
• lead to counting on or back to find differences
• focus on using what is known as the basis of estimation

Extension and Innovation
You can increase the complexity of this activity by:

• asking the students to use two hands for the grab
• asking the students to use a small scoop or container for the grab (introducing volume and capacity experiences)
• asking the students to record their estimates, results and differences on a list or organised table or as number sentences.

You can innovate as follows:

1. When the process of grabbing and estimating is established the students can work in pairs or small groups estimating which grab will go furthest. The students can then go on to estimate how far they think all the grabs of blocks together will stretch.

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Level 2: Grades 4 - 5

Reflection
What did you do first?
Did it work? Why/not?
What did you do next?
Which strategy was most effective? Why?
What will you do next time?

Application
You can us this activity to:

• extend knowledge of counting patterns
• encourage application of grouping strategies and known number facts
• provide the language and concepts of early informal ratio or fraction activities

Extension and Innovation
You can increase the complexity of this activity by:

• increasing the number of blocks being worked with
• increasing the number of different sized groups
• rephrasing the clues to introduce fractional language ( I have 18 blocks, a sixth of them are red, a third of them are yellow, and half of them are green).

You can innovate as follows:

1. Ask the children to choose their own starting number and grouping strategy and write clues or questions to try on their friends
2. Rearrange the clues, e.g., "I have two green ones for every red one and three white ones for every red one. What is the smallest number of blocks that I could have?"

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Level 3: Grades 6 - 7

Reflection
What did you do to get started?
Was there any other way that you could have got started?
Which clue did you use first?
How did you prove that your answer was correct?
What would you do differently next time?

Application
You can use this activity to:

• consolidate fraction concepts
• introduce equivalence of fractions

Extension and Innovation
You can increase the complexity of this activity by:

• increasing the number of blocks being worked with
• increasing the number of towers
• increasing the complexity of the fractions being used

You can also innovate as follows:

1. Reverse the clues so that the number of blocks in one of the towers is given and the students then follow the clues to work out how many blocks altogether
2. Ask the children to plan, make and ask similar questions about their own towers, insisting that they check their answers before swapping with a friend.

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