Education Technology

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  • Subject Area

    • Maths: Elementary Math: Number Sense and Estimation

  • Author

    Texas Instruments

  • Level

    K-5

  • Activity Time

    60 Minutes

  • Device
    • TI-15 Explorer™
  • Other Materials
      This is Activity 12 from the EXPLORATIONS Book:
      A World of Mathematics: Activities for Grades 4, 5, and 6 Using the TI-15

      The following materials are required for this activity:
    • Four 4-oz. cans of water-base paint ( white, black, red, and other color )
    • 15 small paper cups for mixing paint
    • 4 medicine syringes showing cubic centimeters or milliliters ( one for each color of paint )
    • 15 small paint brushes
    • White construction paper
    • Newspapers
    • Container of water for washing

    • For the teacher:
    • Red, yellow, blue transparency film
    • Overhead projector
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Tints and Shades

Activity Overview

Students solve a problem involving mixing of paint colors. They use color charts to determine the fractional parts and percentages of colors needed to create tints and shades.

Before the Activity

  • See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity
  • Print pages 78 - 86 from the attached PDF file for your class
  • Review the four steps of problem solving with the students
  • During the Activity

    Distribute the pages to the class.

    Follow the activity procedures:

  • Read the problem and understand how tints and shades are prepared
  • Create a tint and shade chart for one color
  • Calculate the amount of each color paint used for each tint or shade
  • Create a chart showing the fractional amount, percentages, and actual number of liters of each color of paint needed to make a batch of each tint or shade
  • Write an explanation about the calculations used


  • Converting fractions to percents
  • Solve problems involving conversion of fractions to percents
  • After the Activity

    Students analyze different ways in which they used the calculator to solve the problem.

  • Review student results
  • As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging
  • Re-teach concepts as necessary