Estimate Differences Worksheets
When we are working towards finding the difference between two values, there are a number of things we can do to get a quick idea of what the answer is. This is very helpful in life. In your daily life you will find many different times that this can make your life quite easier. The last time it helped me out was this morning. We live on a lake and to get to our cars, we must travel by boat. My daughter had her entire college lacrosse team over for the weekend and I needed to get them all to shore in the morning. I had to figure out how many trips I would need to make with the boat, so that I could fill it with the proper amount of gasoline. I had to subtract each boat of girls from the total amount of girls. These worksheets and lessons are helpful when you are learning to get a ballpark idea of subtraction problems.
Aligned Standard: 4.NBT.B.4
- Double Digits Step-by-Step Lesson- We start the concept of rounding and estimating with two digit numbers.
- Guided Lesson - Find the difference between two double digit numbers by estimating.
- Guided Lesson Explanation - I like to use the round, subtract zeros, finalize method for this one.
- Number Operations 5 Pack -This is a perfect reminder of the operations that you can find by rounding and estimating.
- Practice Worksheet - Ten problems for you to knock out of the park.
- Matching Worksheet - Match the differences to their estimated outcome.
- Answer Keys - These are for all the unlocked materials above.
Homework Sheets
I definitely recommend that you have students use the estimation arrows as a fixed technique.
- Homework 1 - If the ones place value is 4 or less, the tens place stays where it is.
- Homework 2 - If the ones place value is 5 or more, the tens place moves up one. The ones place is then changed to a 0.
- Homework 3 - To round numbers to the nearest tens place, we look at the ones place.
Practice Worksheets
I start rounding in my life when I retired. I take all of my change and deposit into my grandkids college fund. We're up to six hundred dollars now.
- Practice 1 - Estimate the difference between the integers.
- Practice 2 - When estimating numbers we always round to the highest place possible.
- Practice 3 - We follow these rules to determine the estimated values, when rounding to the nearest tens place.
Math Skill Quizzes
These are very rote driven difference based problems.
- Quiz 1 - See what you think about these.
- Quiz 2 - See what you know or don't know.
- Quiz 3 - All of these problems have the tens place as their highest value.
How to Estimate Differences
Estimating differences is just like estimating sums. Difference is when you subtract one number from the other. The steps of estimation are almost the same. Remember, when rounding we look at the place value of interest and drop back one place. If that value is the number 5 or greater, we round up. If that number is 4 or less, we round the place down. For example, if it's a two-digit number then our aim to estimate to the nearest 10 meaning that there are two numbers. If it is a three-digit number, then you need to round it about or make an estimation to the nearest 100. This is called front-end estimation and you need to remember that the higher the place value that you round to, the less accurate your final value is to the actual solution.
The second step is to subtract the new numbers. But remember you are not getting the exact answer. Estimation can only bring you as close as possible to the actual answer but be the accurate figure. This process is often carried out when money is involved. For example, having enough money in the supermarket to get the groceries. For example, when you have $40 and you want to buy groceries that are going to cost you around $28. So, you round it about to the nearest tenth which is $30.
58 --> 60 (Nearest tenth) 33 --> 30 (Nearest tenth) | 60 - 30 = 30. This 30 is your estimated answer and difference and not the actual answer.