About
Are you looking for a way to reinforce essential math concepts in an engaging way that helps your students make connections? “Trip to the Fair” is a real-life math project where students will complete ten different tasks, each one focusing on essential math skills such as place value, ordering, money, addition and more. This project will help your students see how math is used in real life.
Ideas for Use
Math projects are an ideal way to consolidate learning. I recommend using them as an engaging activity AFTER skills have been learned rather than during learning. You will likely find that engagement is very high and that your students ask to do more of these!
There are many ways to use math projects in your classroom. Some of the most popular are:
•a small-group or pairs activity
•a guided math activity to allow you to see where your students are struggling
•a fun, rewarding way to engage your early finishers
•a low-prep, easy-to-implement activity for a substitute teacher
You might choose to print specific tasks to use during Math centers, or you might make a booklet out of all of the tasks and let your students choose which one to do when. The choice is yours.
This resource is included in PDF format for printing and in Google Slides™️ format for digital learning. This makes it useable with Google Classroom™️.
What's Included?
Take a look at what you’ll find inside this math project:
TASK #1: FAIR ADMISSION
Tickets are sold at the gate as you enter the fair. Let’s take a look at how much the tickets cost.
Math Skills: addition, money, ordering
TASK #2: THE CONCESSION STAND
The concession stand is a popular place! We will take a look at items sold in a picture graph, and then work with individual orders.
Skills: picture graphs, data interpretation, addition, subtraction, ordering
TASK #3: CLOWN JOKES
There’s a clown walking around the fair telling jokes to the kids. Let’s figure out the answers to the jokes!
Math Skills: addition, subtraction, problem-solving
TASK #4: RIDE TICKETS
The rides are the biggest attraction at the fair! Let’s go to the ticket booth!
Skills: addition, subtraction, problem-solving
TASK #5: MOST POPULAR RIDE
Complete the activity to find out which fair ride is the most popular!
Skills: addition, place value
TASK #6: RIDE LINE UPS
It’s a busy afternoon and the ride line-ups are getting longer!
Math Skills: addition with arrays
TASK #7: BALLOON BUST
You’ve ridden the rides – now it’s time for the games! Let’s figure out which balloons we should pop to win the prizes.
Skills: addition, Venn diagram, even/odd
TASK #8: BALL TOSS
The ball toss is one of the most popular games at the fair!
Skills: adding multiples of 10
TASK #9: COTTON CANDY
A fair isn’t a fair without the cotton candy!
Math Skills: number lines, number form, word form, ordering
TASK #10: LEMONADE STANDS
Fresh lemonade is always a hit at the fair! We will compare the two lemonade stands using the bar graphs, and then transfer the information to the line plot and table.
Skills: bar graph, interpreting data, line plot, table, addition, skip-counting
PLUS A BONUS WRITING ACTIVITY
What Teachers Are Saying
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Another great math project! My students love all of the math projects. I especially appreciate the format and directions--once I introduce these projects to a small group of students, they usually can be self sufficient as they work independently or in a group. Such a great way to apply math skills and make real world connections." Kaitlin K.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "This was hands down one of the best packages I have purchased. It was so engaging and had all levels of students challenged. We ended the year using it and the students all looked forward to the time of the day that they would work on this. It really forced them to think and work with others in their group to come up with solutions. Fantastic!" Alison G.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I use this in class for my extension kids. It is a real time saver and well set out-easy to follow. It has a variety of activities relating to the theme and the kids love it!" Debbie H.