Counting Seeds, a number sense and estimation lesson for young learners in cooperative groups

Objectives:

Development of number sense in higher quantities (over 100) and skip counting strategies. Modeling of higher number addition. Cooperative Learning objectives.

Materials:

• A bell pepper
• A larger vegetable or fruit like a pumpkin or watermelon (not a seedless variety)
• Pencils and journals or paper

Procedure:

1. Show the students a large pepper and ask them to estimate how many seeds are inside. Write down the prediction in a sentence like, "I predict there are _____ seeds inside the pepper.".
2. Then cut the pepper and remove all the seeds.
3. Give a portion of the seeds to each group and have them count their seeds by grouping in tens and counting the remaining units. Each group must write down their total and double-check.
4. In front of the whole class, model how to add the total of each group to arrive at the total for the pepper. Then compare to the estimations. Subtract the total from individual estimations.

Repeat the procedure at a later time with either a pumpkin or a watermelon. Use the earlier journal entry to compare the number contained by the smaller pepper to the larger vegetable. Subtract the difference.

Close:

What clues did you use to make your prediction? Did the size of the vegetable relate to the number of seeds? How did we use writing to compare information? How did grouping by tens make the counting faster?

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