During our work with Halloween candy, students created graphs based on how many of each color of Smarties were in their personal pack, collectively at their table of 4 students, and then by the full class. This photo shows some of the graphs we created.
Last week, we had pumpkin math. On day one, students made predictions and took actual measurements for circumference, diameter, and radius. We first used string that ended up being an inaccurate measuring device due to the stretch/ give in the material. We switched to masking tape for a more accurate measurement of the circumference. The following day, the students made predictions about the weight of the pumpkins and then found the actual weight using a scale. We graphed this data as a class. Finally, the grand finale and most exciting work of all was to make a predictions of how many seeds were in each pumpkin. Then, we gutted our pumpkins and counted the seeds. Once the messy work of counting seeds was underway the groups realized that they had greatly underestimated how many seeds were in each pumpkin. We took time to make a second prediction as any good mathematician or scientist would do. Lots of graphing and calculating is happening with all of this pumpkin data. Enjoy these photos of the students at work!
