tales from the chalk face

In this world of spreadsheets, smart phones, apps and calculators, you may ask does anyone ever need to estimate an answer when, with a few clicks, they can have the exact answer?

But the ability to estimate is as important as ever: mental arithmetic hasn’t gone away and the ability to get a ‘ball park figure’ answer to a question is a skill that will prove valuable throughout life. And anyone applying for any remotely numerate or analytical job or University course would do well to familiarise themselves with “Fermi Questions” – questions that rely on ‘ball park estimates’.

So I’ve created a game: Estimate the Answer to help you, or your class or children, to practise their estimating skills.

Its pretty simple, click the “Play” button and a question will appear. Round each number to one significant figure, so if the question was:

72.78 x 382

you would round that to:

70 x 400

then work that out (remembering that to do 70 x 400, do 7 x 4 (=28) and add on three 0’s) to give the answer:

2800

Then click the red “Answer” button and the estimated answer – along with the actual answer – will appear on the screen.

Press the green “Play” button when you’re ready for the next round.

Hopefully you’ll find the game useful and simple – I’ve designed it so it looks good on an Interactive Whiteboard, but works just as well on a PC, lap-top or Mac.

Do let me know what you think, I do enjoy your feedback and comments (good & bad!)

Play the game >>here<<