Lesson Plan
Date: October 2020 (Lesson 7)
Subject: Mathematics
Grade: 8
Topic: Number Theory
Sub – Topic: Rounding Off
Specific Objectives: By the end of the lesson students should be able to:
1. Define key terms like approximation, estimation and rounding off
2. Round off given numbers to the nearest power of 10, 100, 1000, etc.
3. Round off given numbers to specified number of decimal places and whole number.
An approximation (or approximate value) is a stated value that is close to, but not equal to, the
true value of the number. The symbol ≈ means ‘is approximately equal to’.
An estimation (or estimate) is a rough measure of a quantity, based on appearance or judgment.
Rounding means reducing the digits in a number while trying to keep its value similar. The
result is less accurate, but easier to use. When you round a number, you are expressing it as an
approximation or approximate value. We round numbers to reduce their number of digits while
keeping the result as close to the original number as possible.
1
Let us consider π
The true value of π can only be written as 3.1415926535…
The dots indicate that the value of π is not an exact value, it is an approximation.
So we can write π = 3, π = 3.1, π = 3.14 or π = 3.142. Here, π is represented as approximate
values and each is obtained by rounding (or rounding off) its true value to a given number
of decimal places or significant figures.
Rules for Rounding
1. If the number you are rounding is followed by 5,6,7,8 or 9, then round the number
UP.
2. If the number you are rounding is followed by 0,1,2,3 or 4, then the number stays
the same, and we round down
I'll use the first few digits of the decimal expansion of pi: 3.14159265... in the examples below.
* Round pi to five places.
"To five places" means "to five decimal places". First, I count out the five decimal places, and
then I look at the sixth place:
3.14159 | 265...
The fifth place has a 9 in it. Looking at the sixth place, I see that it has a 2 in it. Since 2 is less
than five, I won't round the 9 up; that is, I'll leave the 9 as it is. In addition, I will delete the digits
after the 9. Then pi, rounded to five places, is:
3.14159
2
Let us now look at some other examples.
Question 1: Express 156 to the nearest 10.
Solution:
Identify the given place value: 156
Look at the number to the right: 156
Since it is 5 or above, then round up to 160.
The answer is 160.
Question 2: Write 1593 to the nearest 1000.
Solution:
Identify the given place value: 1593
Look at the number to the right: 1693
Since it is 5 or above, then round up to 2000.
The answer is 2000.
Question 3: What is 91 to the nearest 10?
Solution:
Identify the given place value: 91
Look at the number to the right: 91
Since it is below 5, then the 9 remains the same (round down).
The answer is 90.
3
Sometimes you could be asked to round a number to a certain number of decimal places (or
to a whole number). This does not mean that you should move the decimal point: LEAVE THE
DECIMAL POINT WHERE IT IS but get rid of some numbers from the end. The method is to
look at the next number after the one you want to stop at.
Here’s an example of how we round numbers to a specified number of decimal places.
Activity
1) An athlete ran the 200 metres in the following times:
a) 20.14 seconds
b) 19.87 seconds
State each time correct to:
(i) One decimal place
(ii) The nearest second.
2) Write 74. 1574 kilograms correct to
a) 3 decimal places
b) 2 decimal places
c) 1 decimal place
3) Write each of the following correct to the nearest dollar
a) $325.49
b) $431.58
c) $749.68