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Estimating Cloud Cover
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Participants use their estimation and math skills to simulate a clear, isolated, scattered, broken, or overcast sky using blue construction paper and torn white paper shapes. Participants try to accurately guess the percentage of cloud cover for each other's simulations.
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Cloudy with a chance of mathematics
This activity was great as a part of an overall lesson on estimating, especially since it deals with estimating using irregular rather than regular shapes. I also found it is helpful to either prepare some examples ahead of time or have a “ringer” group or two out of the total participants to ensure you get at least one group that chooses the same percentage of cloud cover as another group. This seemed to really help all the groups see how two drastically different layouts still amounted to the same amount of coverage.
Our program led to some great discussions over the difficulties in accuracy when: smaller vs. larger pieces are used, pieces are closely “clumped” vs. scattered throughout the sky, and the difficulty in preventing overlap on the higher percentages of cover. If you have time, I would even recommend having groups try changing up one of their methods (make pieces larger/small or clump/spread out pieces) using the same percentage when making another sky coverage to give them an even better grip on the estimating difficulties.
The participants also had a good time analyzing their viewing “bias”, and many were able to apply it back to other experiments we had previously performed (many of the regular participants keep a science journal to keep track of the past projects).