Cargo Crew: Packing Place Value Power to 1,000
Shared by A STEM Educator
Students will add 3-digit numbers within 1,000 using expanded form and partial sums strategies, accurately regrouping ones to tens and tens to hundreds, including problems requiring double regrouping.
Lesson Overview
Students act as cargo crew members tallying crates loaded onto a freighter, progressing from 3-digit addition with no regrouping through double regrouping and a mystery-digit challenge using partial sums and expanded form strategies at vertical whiteboards.
Materials
- Vertical whiteboards or large chart paper taped to walls
- Dry-erase markers (1 per group)
- Erasers or socks
- Random grouping cards (e.g., playing cards or popsicle sticks)
- Printed Four-Quadrant note-taking sheets (1 per student)
- Exit slip half-sheets
Scaffolded Task Progression
Ship A carries crates of bananas.
Ship B carries crates of coconuts.
Use Expanded Form + Partial Sums to find the total number of crates.
Show your work in place-value columns:
| Hundreds | Tens | Ones |
|---|---|---|
Write your partial sums, then add them together.
Ship A carries crates of lumber.
Ship B carries crates of steel pipes.
Use Expanded Form + Partial Sums. Will you need to regroup? Where?
| Hundreds | Tens | Ones |
|---|---|---|
Hint: Check the ones column first. What do you get when you add the ones digits?
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