Mystery Blocks

• Lenny VerMaas

• ESU #6, Milford NE

Its not what you cover, its what your students

discover.

Good mathematics is not how many answers you

know but how you proceed when you don’t know the

answer.

Mystery Blocks Activity

• We are going to gather some data concerning blocks of wood.

• Complete the information requested on the chart.

On the Chart

• Block number

• Estimated volume in cubic cm

• Estimated mass in grams

• Measured volume in cubic cm

• Measured mass in grams

• Milliliters of water displaced when floating

• Milliliter of water displaced when submerged

Getting Started

• Pick a block and complete the information requested in the table.

• Measure the length to the nearest millimeter but write as centimeters.

• Measure mass to the nearest gram.

When the measurements are completed

• Plot and label the points on the graph

• Put the block number and group ID by the point.

• Mass on the vertical axis

• Volume on the horizontal axis

If another group has measured the block compare your measurements. If your

measurements are significantly different from another group check with that group to see

how they arrived at their numbers.

Final Results

• Time for you to get started.

• Get a block of wood and fill in a row of the chart.

• Follow the directions on the sheet.

• Several blocks are already plotted on the graph

The crucial factor is not what gets taught, but

what is learned.

We must view young people not as empty bottles to be filled,

but as candles to be lit. Robert Shaffer