It encourages flexibility in working with numbers and measurements, and gives the student a way to check for reasonable results. It is important to learn a variety of estimation methods. This flexible use of rounding provides numbers that are easy to work with. Discuss various strategies and help students develop their own methods for solution. Shown a cluster of ten dots, have students quickly estimate several other clusters of dots as more than ten, fewer than ten, about ten.
Estimation is especially important when children use calculators.
Rough estimates will give them enough information to decide whether the correct keys were pressed and whether the calculator result is reasonable. Such uses of estimation reduce the incidence of errors with calculators, decrease the inappropriate use of calculators for simple computation, and contribute to children's development of number sense, operation sense and mathematical power. In later grades, mathematical instruction should concentrate on a variety of problem-solving methods. Estimation should be a part of the students' repertoire of skills, to be used as a problem-solving method as well as a way of checking the reasonableness of results. A Reflection of Our World Collecting, representing, and processing data are important activities in today's society.