Printable learning mission · Grades 4–6 · Free
🗳️ School Election Detective
Count a student council election, graph the results, and announce the winner.
One three-page student pack to download and print.
What kids will do
Bring a pencil. Work through the pages in order, then share what you made.
Adult guideTips, a sample plan and a quick review checklist
One mission, three student sheets. Use the supplied fictional vote counts. Children add three-digit totals, draw a bar chart, and compare one grade with the whole-school result.
Page 1: Grade totals are 110, 125, 127, and 118. Maya: 69 + 38 + 42 + 35 = 184; Leo: 21 + 62 + 53 + 54 = 190; Sam: 20 + 25 + 32 + 29 = 106. Altogether 184 + 190 + 106 = 480. Grade 3 favors Maya; Grade 6 favors Leo. In Grade 6, Leo leads Maya by 54 − 35 = 19 votes; this subtraction requires borrowing.
Page 2: Bars end at 184, 190, and 106, between the 20-vote grid marks. Leo wins with 190; Maya is second with 184; the lead is 190 − 184 = 6. Half of 480 is 240, so the winner did not receive more than half. Most votes wins in this election, even without a majority.
Page 3: Grade 3 favors Maya; all four grades together favor Leo. Of 500 students, 480 voted and 20 did not. A sound announcement says Leo won with 190 votes, won by 6 votes, Maya was runner-up with 184 votes, and 480 student votes were counted. One grade did not represent the whole school here. Do not claim every student preferred Leo.