List

of Data Facts from poster;

Data Fact #1: Some trees can grow up to 100m tall
Data Fact #2: A tree produces approximately 120kg of oxygen per year enough to support
2 people
Data Fact #3: A tree absorbs, on average, 1 ton of carbon dioxide in its lifetime
Data Fact #4: Trees receive 90% of their nutrition from the atmosphere and 10% from the
soil
Data Fact #5: There are about 20,000 species of trees in the world
Data Fact #6: A tree does not reach its most productive carbon storage for about 10 years

Selected Data Facts for further exploration
Data Fact #1: Some trees can grow up to 100m tall
Prompts to develop childrens mathematical thinking:
1. How tall are you? How many times taller is a 100m tree?
2. What other things can you think of that may be around 100m tall?


A childs anticipated responses to the prompts:
Prompt 1 - Anticipated response:
I am 120cm tall, thats the same as 1.20m. 100m divided by 1.20m is 8.33. The 0.33 means one third,
and one third of my height 120 is 40am. That means that a 100m tree is about 8 times 40cm taller
than me.

Prompt 2 - Anticipated response:
Buildings and the 100m sprint field.

Mathematics explored in the prompts:

These prompts allow students to explore the length of a tree in comparison to other objects.
The prompts allow students to use conversions to determine the most appropriate unit of
measurement.

AusVELS connection and code:

Year 5: Choose appropriate units of measurement for length, area, volume, capacity and mass
(ACMMG108)
Year 5: Solve problems involving division by a one digit number, including those that result in a
remainder (ACMNA101)

Data Fact #2: A tree produces approximately 120kg of oxygen per year enough to support
2 people
Prompts to develop childrens mathematical thinking:
1. How many trees would we need to supply enough oxygen for everyone in this
classroom?
2. In your lifetime so far, how much oxygen have you used?
A childs anticipated responses to the prompts:
Prompt 1 - Anticipated response:
If 120kg of oxygen is enough for two people in one year, then 60kg of oxygen is how much one person
needs. There are 26 students in our class plus the 2 teachers so thats 28 people we need to include.
60kg of oxygen multiplied by 28 people is 1680kg of oxygen. I dont know if children use less oxygen
thought because were smaller, so maybe we only need a bit less than 1680kg of oxygen.

Prompt 2 - Anticipated response:
Before we figured out that a person uses about 60kg of oxygen per year. Im 9 and half. So I would
have used 9 years time 60kg, plus half of 60kg because theres another half a year, or six months that
I need oxygen. 9 years multiplied by 60kg plus 30kg is 570kg. I would have used about 570kg so far.

Mathematics explored in the prompts:
The prompts above allow children to use their use the information provided and problem
solving skills to solve the questions. The prompts explore the use of division and
multiplication to find an answer. Students are also required to use prior knowledge or
information from other contexts to solve the problems.

AusVELS connection and code:

Year 5: Use equivalent number sentences involving multiplication and division to find unknown
quantities (ACMNA121)
Year 5: Solve problems involving multiplication of large numbers by one- or two-digit numbers using
efficient mental, written strategies and appropriate digital technologies (ACMNA100)

Data Fact #3: A tree absorbs, on average, 1 ton of carbon dioxide in its lifetime
Prompts to develop childrens mathematical thinking:
1. If a tree lives for 1000 years, on average, how much carbon dioxide does it absorb
per year?
2. If we produce 50kg of carbon dioxide per year, how years could one tree support
one person for?


A childs anticipated responses to the prompts:
Prompt 1 - Anticipated response:
If we convert 1ton into kilograms, it is 1000kg. So 1000 years divided by 1000kg is 1 kg per year. So a
tree absorbs 1kg of carbon dioxide per year.

Prompt 2 - Anticipated response:
Same as before, 1 ton is the same as 1000kg. If we produce 50kg of carbon dioxide per year, and one
tree absorbs it we can figure how many years the tree can support us by dividing 1000kg by 50kg. The
answer is 20, a tree that absorbs 1 ton of carbon dioxide in its lifetime can support one person for 20
years.

Mathematics explored in the prompts:

The prompts above encourage students to use their problem-solving skills involving
multiplication and division, as well as unit conversion to find a solution to the problem
presented.


AusVELS connection and code:
Year 5: Solve problems involving multiplication of large numbers by one- or two-digit numbers using
efficient mental, written strategies and appropriate digital technologies (ACMNA100)
Year 5: Choose appropriate units of measurement for length, area, volume, capacity and mass
(ACMMG108)