How many seeds in a pumpkin?

HOW MANY SEEDS IN A PUMPKIN?

Posted by Bibiana Signes

Title: How many seeds in a pumpkin?

Author and Illustrator: Margaret McNamara and G. Brian Karas

Recommended Grade Level: Grades K-3

Common Core Standards Addressed:

CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP1 - Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.OA.A.1
Use addition and subtraction within 100 to solve one- and two-step word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.OA.C.3
Determine whether a group of objects has an odd or even number of members, e.g., by pairing objects or counting them by 2s; write an equation to express an even number as a sum of two equal addends.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.OA.C.4
Use addition to find the total number of objects arranged in rectangular arrays with up to 5 rows and up to 5 columns; write an equation to express the total as a sum of equal addends.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA.A.3
Use multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems in situations involving equal groups.

Summary: This is a fun and colorful book that can be used in a classroom to teach a variety of lessons. The story takes place in Mr.Tiffin’s classroom. One day he brings three different pumpkins. One was small, the second one was medium and the last one was big. Children had to guess how many seeds were in the pumpkin. They wrote down the results and the following day they opened up the pumpkins and removed all the seeds. The children were divided in three groups. Group number 1 had the biggest pumpkin. They arranged the seeds in groups of 2s. Group number 2 had the medium size pumpkin and arranged the seeds in groups of 5s. Charlie, who had the smallest pumpkin of all, worked by himself and decided to make groups of 10s.  In the end, the children were very surprised to find out that the smallest pumpkin had the most seeds. They learned that the smallest pumpkin was on the vine the longest. Therefore, it had more lines and for each line on the outside there is a row of seeds on the inside. Students also learned about how sometimes jumping to conclusions can lead you to a misconception.

Rating: ***** I would definitely recommend this book. It is colorful, inviting and easy to read. It is a great choice for the fall. It covers many math topics and the lessons can be designed to teach every grade level from K through 3.

Classroom ideas: This book can be used to teach a variety of math concepts. A teacher can introduce topics such as small, medium and big, compare and contrast, counting, prediction, drawing conclusions, counting by 2s, 5s and 10s, multiplication, addition, subtraction and sorting. Students could use a graph to analyze the results. They could learn about multiplication facts instead of adding groups of 2s, 5s and 10s. They could also arrange the seeds in even and odd numbers and compare and contrast them.