In today's world, we are constantly bombarded with numbers - whether it is on the price tag of a t-shirt we would like to buy, a bill that we are sending off in the mail, or on a menu while ordering our favorite lunch. How we implement estimation in our daily lives is mostly autonomic - we do so without even putting much effort into it. Is it imperative that we continue teaching these skills to our youth in school? I would be inclined to say that it is indeed important.
On a recent cross-country motorcycle trip that I had taken, I found myself looking at the road signs in comparison to my odometer, guessing how many more miles I had to go between towns (in order to ensure that I could fill my gas tank). I spent much of the trip doing automatic math in my head - rounding numbers, adding, subtracting, and even dividing when I filled my tank to approximate the miles per gallon I was getting. All of this is thanks to the practice I received in school learning rounding and estimation techniques. Take distance from destination "A", to destination "B" as being 106 miles. Then from destination "B" to destination "C" as 84 miles. Now let's say that I am able to go 175 miles per tank of fuel. Will I be able to make it from destination A to C? If we use the rounding method, Distance AB is approximately 110 miles, and distance BC is approximately 80. So, AB+BC = 110+80 = 190. 190 total miles - 175 miles per tank = 15 miles difference, so the answer then is no. I would be better off stopping for fuel at destination B, to be safe.
Without the basic mathematical skills to add, subtract, round, and estimate, our daily lives would seem to be much more complicating. Imagine having to memorize complex formulas, or having to stop to get out your calculator every time you needed to figure out if you needed gas (not just by going on the gauge on your dashboard of your car). These skills are essential for us to learn as we continue through not only our educational careers, but throughout our lives.
The following is a video I found in a YouTube search that should help should you have any questions on the estimation skills that are being taught in many of today's elementary schools.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbw5ptdeRsw
The following link is to an article released by the NACD (National Association for Child Development) that discusses many reasons and benefits to teaching our children estimation techniques
http://nacd.org/newsletter/0309_estimation.php
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