Children's Museum of Houston

Procedure

• Draw 2 Two Scoop Ice Cream cones on the blackboard, identifying one with a vanilla scoop on top of a chocolate scoop of ice cream, and the other with the chocolate scoop on top of the vanilla scoop.
• Ask students if these are the same or different. Continue by asking how they are different, leading them to determine that the order is important.
• Hand out the Ice Cream worksheet. Have students color scoops of ice cream on the cones to determine how many different Ice Cream Cones they can create. As students are working, reinforce to them that although the combinations may be the same, the order makes a difference

Questions to Ask

• How many different combinations can you make?
• How do you know you have made all the possibilities?
• What happens if order does not matter?
• Would you have fewer or more combinations if order does not matter?  Do you see a pattern? 

Extension

• Ask students if they can determine any other situations when order is important. (ex. Telephone number, Address, Recipes, etc.)
• What happens if we mix up the order within the above combinations?