Numbers is one of those programs on the laptops that is underutilized by many students. However it is a powerful way to teach your students to think and solve problems, especially when developing formulas on their own. A fourth grade teacher at Chamberlayne wanted me to help her students with rounding, and I immediately thought of using Numbers. Earlier I had created a website for rounding whole numbers called “Rounding Robot.” I decided to incorporate that concept into a Numbers spreadsheet so the students could see the formulas and figure out how they worked. Then they could use that information to develop their own formulas. I created a spreadsheet for rounding whole numbers that you can download by clicking here and one for rounding decimals that you can download by clicking here. The spreadsheets have formulas so that students can check their own work. They can even make up their own numbers. If you use this activity with your students be sure to encourage them to try to make their own rounding formula.
