Pumpkin Math-Seriously everyone should do this!

Let's go back....way back....to my first year of teaching!  

My classroom is directly across the hall from a first grade classroom and I watched them celebrate and learn through thematic teaching.  You know what I mean apples on Johnny Appleseed Day, pumpkins around Halloween, you get the idea. 

I was determined to add some of that fun to my fifth grade classroom.  My first activity, Pumpkin Math was born! It has undergone quite a few changes in the last seven years, and now it is ready to share with you. 

On day #1 of the activity my students use a variety of materials to discover the circumference, radius, and diameter of a pumpkin that a parent volunteer has supplied.  We work in small groups and estimate and find the weight.  Students also write a physical description about their pumpkin so that everyone can identify which pumpkin belongs to each group.  

Using pop cubes to find the radius

Collecting our data

On day #2 we get REALLY MESSY.  We take a guess on the number of seeds inside the pumpkin and then start scooping out all of the seeds and pumpkin guts.  Here I am able to see a great deal about my students and their problem solving techniques.  For example who is counting one seed at a time and who is making small groups of seeds.  This gets messy and makes for some awesome photo-ops. I take the seeds home that day and season and cook theme to be shared as a treat as we analyze our data the next day.  

Guessing the number of seeds in our pumpkin 

Emptying out the pumpkin in our to count the seeds

 Creating piles of 20 to count the seeds

On day #3 we analyze all the data that we have collected in order to find the mean of the pumpkins we have in the room.  We also pull out the pumpkin carving kits and create jack o'lanterns out of our emptied out pumpkins.  

This is an activity that my kids have LOVED year after year.  When they come back to visit after leaving my class Pumpkin Math is one of the things we did together that always want to reminisce about.

You can grab this activity at my TPT Store: The Reading Buddies Pumpkin Math 

Can you smell the pumpkin in the air?

Damien 

Pi Day Revisited

Hi all I am typing this post from my deck as it is a beautiful March day in Jersey.  I wanted to keep everyone posted on how my Pi Day activities went. 


First we created our Pi Day review plates to remind us of the vocabulary, the formula for circumference, and the meaning of the terms.  This activity took about a 1/2 hour to complete, though the most creative (and slowest working) kids took a little longer.

Here a student is using the Vocabulary section of their
Math Binder to review the terms

A Pi (pie) plate in progress

Finished Pi plates

A closer view

A quick and easy display

In the afternoon we participated in Edible Pi Day Centers (available on TPT Here).  The activities were center-based and had the students measuring the diameter of various desserts and using that information to find the diameter and circumference.  Rule number one, do NOT spend so much time planning that you leave buying the actual pies until the night before. Cut to me in three different grocery stores at 11:00 the night before Pi Day-I've learned from that mistake. 


With Oreos, Peanut Butter Cups, Round Cakes and Pies in hand we started our centers.  Each center had center cards restating the directions for the students (included in the TPT packet). 

Here two of my darlings are reading the directions before starting
at the pie station (YEAH for reading directions!)

This is an image of one of the center cards
for the Apple Pie center. 

The activity guide in progress.

Here are some pictures of us working...

and eating our way through the centers.

Oreo diameter-YUM!

Have you ever measured the diameter of a Peanut Butter Cup?
I usually just eat them

Overall this was a GREAT way to celebrate Pi Day and to have some activities that were super engaging, educational, and of course YUMMY!

How did you celebrate Pi Day? I'd love to hear from you!


-Damien of The Reading Buddies

Edible Pi Day Centers

Joining in to my first linky party by linking up with Making it as a Middle School Teacher for a Pi Day Linky Party. So excited to be joining the party!

My kiddos and I love to eat our work.  Seriously, we are often finding ways to work food into our daily lessons.  A growing 5th grader (and a 5th grade teacher) has got to eat.  I just created and posted some Pi Day activities at our TPT Store that combine Math, food, and centers all in one fun bundle.  


Our first step was a review of circumference, radius, and diameter.  We did so by taking paper plates and making them into paper pies.  After they were decorated we labeled and measured the radius, diameter, and circumference. 

After coloring the plate brown and adding pie slits the math portion began

In the afternoon we will go into our centers and measure the circumference of our edible items.  My math always has a writing piece incorporated, so they will also write about their learning. After the 4 math centers, it is time for apple pie a la mode!


YUM! 
-Damien 


For my math Edible Pi Day Centers check out our TPT Store at this link: Edible Pi Day Centers