Teach Your Students How to Estimate With Decimals and Whole Numbers

Learning how to round is a skill that students begin to learn in 3rd grade. They learn how to identify a place to round to and use the “number next door” to determine if a number rounds up or down. After mastering the rounding rules, students are introduced to compatible numbers, in other words, “friendly” numbers. These numbers help students perform mental calculations, such as estimating when adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

Teach Starter has created a set of task cards to help your 5th-grade students refine their estimation skills with whole numbers and decimals.

Included Components and How to Use in the Classroom

This printable teaching resource includes 24 task cards that have word problems, multiple-choice word problems and open-ended response questions. A recording sheet and answer key are included as well. 

Take a peek at some of the included questions in this set of task cards!

• • Dylan uses a total of 14.9 pounds of ground beef to make 3 taco salads for a large party. About how many pounds of ground beef are in each salad?
  • Estimate the quotient: 349.12 ÷ 7
  • How are rounding and estimation similar? How are they different?

Students can complete the cards in any order, record their work on the student recording sheet, and check their work with the answer key. 

Differentiation Tips

We know you’re always looking for ways to adapt tasks to cater to students’ individual learning needs. Here are some ways you might extend this activity for your more-confident learners, as well as how to support those students who need a little extra help to stay on track. 

🆘 Support Struggling Students

Modify the assignment by removing some cards and reducing the workload. Consider providing a calculator to check work as well, or allow students to work in collaborative groups.

➕ Challenge Fast Finishers

As an extension, invite students to create a memory match game with 10 division expressions and their 10 corresponding estimates.

Easily Prepare This Estimating Quotients (5th Grade) Resource for Your Students

Use the dropdown icon on the Download button to choose between the PDF or editable Google Slides version of this resource. A recording sheet and answer key are also included with this download. 

Print on cardstock for added durability and longevity. Place all pieces in a folder or large envelope for easy access. 

To keep the task cards out of pockets or under desks, punch a hole in the corner of each to place them on a binder ring. 

Sustainability Tip: Print a few recording sheets on cardstock and slip them into dry erase sleeves. Students can record their answers with a whiteboard marker, then erase and reuse them.  

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This resource was created by Lorin Davies, a teacher in Texas and a Teach Starter Collaborator. 

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Don’t stop there! We’ve got more activities and resources that cut down on lesson planning time:  

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