Pumpkin Math

While our light table was being prepared by many friends who took turns writing numbers 1 to 100.

They made a 100 Grid chart right on the light table!

Danica's printing was so neat and she knew all the numbers without any help. She was very satisfied with her efforts!

Children were busy cutting, scooping and

s e p a r a t i n g   the seeds from pumpkins.



Each child filled their own bowl with the seeds from the pumpkin they had cut open and scooped out.

This was gooey, slimy, slippery work!



Some pumpkins were small, some were flat and red, some had funny bumps and some were huge!

Once the children had scooped all the seeds they could into their bowls, they made a prediction.

How many seeds were in their pumpkin?

They came one by one to fill in a chart.

The chart had a title, 'Seed Predictions'.

The chart had 3 columns, 'Description', 'Prediction' and 'Actual'.

Miya's pumpkin was 'Big Orange Pumpkin'. She predicted 100 seeds.

Addison's pumpkin was 'FLAt PAKiN'. She also predicted 100 seeds. 

 Sienna was especially excited to count her pumpkin seeds. She had carved the 'ROF TOP PMPKn' and predicted 16 seeds!

Sienna counted her seeds by putting one seed in each square. She filled all 100 squares and still had 8 more. What was Sienna's actual amount?

Before he predicted and counted his own 'RAD FLaT POMPGIN'

(which he predicted to be 31 seeds),

 Isaac helped Ryan and Jun count the seeds they had scooped.

Their pumpkin was a giant one! They described it as 'JANT PKIN'

and predicted 600 seeds.

  They looked at Miya's number in the 'Actual' column first.

They were sure it had more than Miya's!

Miya had put 10 seeds in each square. She filled 5 lines of 10 squares in the 100 Grid with seeds and still had 7 leftover.

Well, the boys also put 10 seeds in each square.

They really had to practice to count by 10's.

They also filled 5 full lines but had 10 leftover.

Can you determine which pumpkin had more seeds?

Abigail decided her pumpkin looked nutty because it had light tan coloured bumps all over it. She called it 'NUTE PMPKN' and predicted 20 seeds.

She put one seed in each square and also filled all 100 squares.

She counted 19 left over.

How many seeds in all?





 

The actual amount of seeds were:

Big Orange Pumpkin, Miya - 507

FLAt PAKiN, Addison - 325

NUTE PMPKN, Abigail - 119

JANT PKIN, Jun & Ryan - 510

RAD FLaT POMPGIN, Isaac - 156

ROF TOP PKN, Sienna - 108

 

You can imagine the fun discussions we had as we gathered together and the children talked about their pumpkins and how many seeds they had predicted and counted!

We can imagine the fun discussions you will have talking about our pumpkin math!

 

Now the pumpkins are in the 'Decomposition Centre' under the windows in the front of the school near our side door. Check them out when you come by.

What's happening to them?

 

We are waiting for Riverside Library to call and tell us when

Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell

is ready for us to pick up!





Egg-citing News!

What are they looking at under the bright light?

Egg-zactly! The wonderful world of kindergarten is home to some soon-to-be hatch-lings. So many creatures come from eggs. The creatures developing in our eggs are fancy chickens with great plumes of coloured tail feathers.

Ricki, our co-op student from Riverside High School brought in some very special eggs. Can you guess the kinds of birds that hatched from them?

The big white egg was from an ostrich, and the dark smaller egg was from an emu. Ricki shared the eggs and the story of how she got them. Then she helped the children to learn about the birds that hatched from them. Ostriches, emus and chickens have so much in common! They have feathers and beaks and wings... but don't really fly.

It all began when Mrs. St. Onge had brought out this strange looking container and plugged it in for a couple of days. We became more and more curious. She was making sure our new visitors had a warm place to go when they arrived. She called this container an incubator. It was nice and warm inside as we awaited the arrival of our eggs.

We learned all about eggs... cracking them, what's inside them, , why they needed to be warm, why they are different...

Then, in came Farmer Richard! Most often, he tends the Living Wall by our kindergarten rooms, but this day he had a special surprise for us. He had an egg carton with some very special eggs. They had writing on them so that we could tell which type of hen they came from. Some were small and some were larger. There were many curious eyes and children! We learned so much about chickens and their eggs.

Mrs. St. Onge worked with the children to make a calendar so we could count down the days until we might see the chickens begin to hatch. We watch them every day and cross the days off as they pass. We are expecting our chicks around April 14... give or take a day. You know how those young ones have a mind of their own!

Since then, we have looked at the eggs to see how well they are developing. We can only do this for a short time because they need to stay warm in the incubator. 

We have seen a tiny dot that is a heart. We knew this because there were veins travelling away from the dot. 

Looking at the embryo of an egg with a bright light is called candling. This name came from how people first used candle light to look at the inside of an egg. We have candled a couple of times. We are able to see how the embryo is growing!

Just like any expectant family, we are anxious and protective over the newest members to our kindergarten family! 

Colosanti's - Tropical and Terrific!

The field trip to Colosanti's was a rousing success!

The fun we had we couldn't have guessed. 

We boarded the bus and off we went,

With bus driver Greg, he's a wonderful gent.

And there'll be goats...

Oh dear! There were deer and boy are they quick,

Ready for food, giving a wet slurpy lick.

And so many flowers, the tropical kind,

All at Colosanti's and easy to find.
And there'll be goats...

Excitement with friends was everywhere,

Laughter and giggles filled the air.

We were ever-so-proud of our girls and boys,

Such fun and learning, we were filled with joy!
And there'll be goats...

Flowers were not the only feature,

We also saw two-legged and four-legged creatures.

Ferrets, and hedgehogs and goats. Oh my!
Lizards and snakes liking things warm and dry.
And there were goats...

Families shared in the fun and play too.

Memories made with love so true.

Our garden of children could only compare,

To the beauty and wonder of all that was there.
Don't forget about the goats...

"What makes one flower pink and one that is red?

Or yellow? Or orange? Or in bunches?" they said.

What makes one child tall? Or quick with a smile?

Or a builder? Or artist? Or wonder or wander a while?
And...ummm... you guessed it... goats...

Each child, like each flower, we've come to know,

Is unique and so special as we watch them grow.

Curious, remarkable and each with their own flair,
Like all the tropical plants that were there.
Yep... goats...

Connecting with the natural world far and wide,

Seeing flytraps and cactus with hair on it's side!

Connecting with each other in a different way,

New surroundings, experiences... oh what a day!
Connecting with goats...

The deer had us running, inside and out!

Four-legged friends freely wandering about.

Some soft and furry, some with beautiful feathers.

Inside and outside no matter the weather.
Furry, jumpy, licky goats...

Gathered together and learning of tropical beings,

And domestic animals the children were seeing,

Gave us ideas to talk about, new worlds to explore,

Tropical forests and farms, rain forests and more!
Cute, adorable, waiting for food... goats...

Back on the bus, on our way to Suzuki,

We talked of goats... and things and sang songs that were kooky,

Tropical, terrific, tremendous too.

We'd like to say a big THANK YOU!!!