Title of Book:
Author:
Publisher/Year:
ISBN:
How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?
Margaret McNamara
Schwartz & Wade Books/2007
978-0-375-84014-2
Grade Levels for Recommended Use: 1st Grade
TEKS: 1.1 Number, operation, and quantitative reasoning. The student uses whole
numbers to describe and compare quantities. The student is expected to:
(B)
Create sets of tens and ones using concrete objects to describe,
compare, and order whole numbers
(D)
Read and write numbers to 99 to describe sets of concrete objects
Brief Summary: Charlie loved school, but he did not enjoy lining up for class in the
morning because his teacher always arranged the students by height. Charlie was always
the smallest in the class. One day, the students walk into the class to discover one small,
one medium and one large pumpkin on Mr. Tiffin’s desk. Just as Mr. Tiffin arranges his
students, the pumpkins were also arranged from small to large. He asks the class to
estimate how many seeds are inside each. Several students estimated how many seeds
were in each pumpkin, falsely assuming that the large pumpkin contained the most seeds.
The next day, the class pulled the seeds out of each pumpkin and placed them into three
separate bowls. After skip-counting the seeds by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s, the class discovers
that the small pumpkin actually had the most seeds. Charlie was pleasantly surprised
exclaiming that “Small things can have a lot going on inside them”.
Materials needed:
 “How many seeds in a pumpkin?” book by Margaret McNamara
 Bags of pumpkin seeds with various amount (one bag per student with less than
100 seeds per bag)
 One ice tray per student
 “How many pumpkin seeds do you have?’ worksheet (attached)
Suggested Activity:
1. Begin the lesson by reading the book “How many seeds in a pumpkin?” by
Margaret McNamara.
2. Distribute pumpkin seed bags, ice trays, and worksheet to each student.
3. Ask the students to carefully examine their bag of seeds to estimate how many
seeds are in the bag. The students record their estimated answer on the worksheet.
4. Have students sort the seeds into groups of 10s and place each group into the ice
tray compartments.
5. The students will count how many groups of tens are in their ice trays and record
their results in the tens column of the place value chart on the worksheet. They
will then count how many they have left over and record that result in the ones
column of the place value chart.
6. Finally, the students will use the place value chart to read the actual number of
seeds they have in their bags.
References: http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/03/lp323-02.shtml
Adapted by: Meghan Satterwhite (2011)
Name:________________________
How Many Pumpkin Seeds Do I Have?
After examining my seeds, I can estimate that I
have _________ seeds.
Count the seeds by sorting them into groups of ten. Place each
group of ten into a separate compartment in your ice trays. Count
how many groups of tens you have and record your results in the
tens column. Now, count how many left over seeds you have and
record your results in the ones column.
Tens
Ones
Use this chart to find out the actual number of seeds
that you have in your bag.
The actual number of seeds in my bag is __________.