Pumpkin Math

Autumn is such a wonderful time of year! The colours and textures can inspire such rich math conversation! This past weekend we visited a few farm stands in the area and all I saw was math around me! I'm hoping that these photos will be useful as math prompts for 'math talk' conversations with children.

Show children a photo and ask them to share what they 'see, think and wonder' about each photo. The 'see, think, wonder' thinking routine can be used to help children delve more deeply into exploring and articulating what they notice in a specific situation. As children notice and name what they see, they can make connections to their own experiences and ideas, and form questions for further exploration and math research. 

Educators can also ask children specific math questions to guide their thinking. This can be especially helpful if the math concepts in the photos are geared towards an existing exploration the children are having, or if specific curriculum and assessment investigations are needed by the children. Sample math questions are provided below!

How many bumps are on this pumpkin?

 How big around is the stem?

What patterns do you notice?

How are these gourds organized?

What other ways can you sort the objects?

How many do you think are in each bushel? How do you know? 

 

What patterns do you see?

Why is the pumpkin more narrow at the top?

How big around might this be in the largest part?  

How many pumpkins do you estimate are in this box?

How many pumpkins might fit in the box if it was filled to the top?

How much money do you think the farmer should charge for the entire box of pumpkins? Why?

If these pumpkins are $3.50 each, how much would all of these cost? 

Should bigger pumpkins cost more than smaller ones? Why?

Which do you think is the biggest? How do you know?

 

Which pumpkin would you pick if you only had $2? Why? 

If you had X dollars, how many pumpkins could you buy?

How much money do all these pumpkins cost altogether?

What symmetry do you notice?

What patterns do you see?

How many pumpkins would a full crate hold?
 

Which gourd does not belong? Why?

How could you sort these? What's your sorting rule?

How many gourds do you think are in this bushel?

 

Halloween Math uses the 'see, think, wonder' thinking routine to explore seasonal objects and experiences in a mathematical context and is now available from Amazon!