Intro to Estimation Skills: Fermi Problems, and more...

Estimation has always been a core skill, and has become even more so in the 21st century where Google can provide answers at the click of a button.  Facts or ideas children learn are often disparate and unconnected. To create meaning and have long-lasting learning, the pieces of knowledge should support each other through their connections. A habit like estimation, exercised regularly, activates the connections between facts and ideas and solidifies them in the learner’s mind. You can read more about this at our blog post here. 

On this course, students will learn how to make 'intelligent' approximations, through ‘order of magnitude’ estimates. 

They will be led to attempt an assortment of estimation tasks - e.g. # of leaves on a tree, amount of oxygen a mountaineer might need to carry, risks of flying versus road transport, # of endangered animals in a forest reserve, etc. After attempting these tasks, they will discuss what assumptions were made, and how underestimates and overestimates can be corrected. 

There will also be discussions on important scientific discoveries involving estimation e.g. How do scientists confidently declare that a galaxy contains 100 billion stars, say? 

As an optional project after the end of the course, students can interact with the instructor to study the reasonableness of the Drake equation, which attempts to estimate the number of active, communicative, extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy.  

Learn more about our expert course facilitator, Sukanya Sinha, here.