Posted by Cindy on October 31, 2011
We always enjoy a living math lesson with pumpkins! All our children participated according to their abilities – from the 4yo to the 14yo. The 11yo and 14yo were expected to measure with complete accuracy, while the 4yo dabbled in learning how to measure. He used standard (rulers) and non-standard (blocks) measuring tools.
We measured the height and width of each pumpkin.
We measured the weight with our bathroom scale. A nice kitchen scale (which we don't own) would've provided more accurate measurements.
We measured the circumference and the big kids used formulas to determine the diameter and radius.
Here's the beginning of Mahayla's record keeping.
When Eli saw his big brother and big sister keeping records, he insisted that he have a record keeping sheet, too. W = wide and T = tall.
We did a water displacement activity to find the volume of our pumpkins (you'll see below), but we didn't have a big enough container marked with measurements to make the pumpkin displacement accurate. To demonstrate the correct way to find volume, we used a measuring cup and potato. At least this gave them a better idea what we were doing wrong in measuring the volume of our pumkins.
In measuring the volume of our pumpkins, we made our own measurement bucket for estimations, but realized our measurements probably were not perfect, nor could we see through the bucket to see exact water levels. At least they have the experience and understand the flaws in our trial.
Of course, we couldn't end the lesson without carving our pumpkins! Through this process, we continued to measure width of the skin, depth of the cavity, and such. We also talked "science" as we discussed the pumpkin parts and their functions.
And, we couldn't end the lesson without a pumpkin treat. These are simple pumpkin bars that are so moist, they don't even need icing!
I hope you’ll find a few leftover pumpkins at the market and have your own living math lesson!
Posted by Cindy on October 6, 2011
Thanks to Pinterest, I am finally able to remember all those fun ideas I come across while surfing the Internet! This activity was stolen from Heather over at Blog, She Wrote. Thanks, Heather!
I love incorporating math with other subjects. In this simple activity, math and art come together to make a pretty spectacular finished product.
- Use watercolors to make whatever design you like on card stock.
- On the back of the dried artwork, use a ruler to make a grid of one-inch blocks.
- Cut the blocks apart and mix the pieces up.
- Lay the blocks randomly on another piece of card stock to create an abstract picture.
- Glue the pieces down securely.
We didn't have carstock, so I substituted old folders. I would definitely plan to use cardstock next time for easier measuring.
Since math is part of the lesson, be precise in creating the grid and cutting the squares so the pieces fit together nicely in the final product.
Mahayla's fiished artwork.
Caleb's final artwork.
Posted by Cindy on July 19, 2011
I love to incorporate more than one subject at a time when possible. It not only saves time, but makes connections that are so important for children to understand.
Making measurement notes.
Last week, we were blessed with a dry snow that led to lots of snow drifts. I sent the kids on their merry way with a clipboard and measuring tools in hand. Their job was to find and measure as many snow drifts and icicles as possible, noting measurements on a scrap piece of paper.
Measuring icicles on the van.
Measuring icicles on the watering trough.
Measuring a small snow drift near the house so mom could get a picture from her cozy perch inside.
Preschoolers and dogs enjoy helping, too!
After a warm cup of hot chocolate, I pulled out these two notebooking pages from the
Snow and Ice NaturExplorers study. (For the record, the pages within the unit are in color. I was out of color ink, so copied them in gray scale.)
On The Measure of Snow, they took their snow drift measurements and created a graph to display the information. My daughter began with a line graph, then changed her mind to watercolor a bar graph. Thus the eraser marks!
On Interesting Icicles, I had them order their measurements from shortest to longest and draw a picture of an icicle up-close. My oldest had to create her own graph from the icicle information, too.
They LOVE this kind of math – hands-on, active, meaningful, real. And, I didn’t have one complaint as they joyfully learned about and practiced accurate measuring, ordering mixed/decimal numbers, and completing/creating graphs. Ah, a fun time of math and nature study, indeed. (And I didn’t have to get out in the cold to boot!)
Posted by Cindy on
A yearly visit to the local pumpkin patch with our church’s family ministry is a highlight this time of year. And a great nature study outing, too!
As a homeschool teacher, I don’t let my kids often get away with only carving their pumpkins! Although, since we’ve been so busy this season, I did let them get away with only carving them just this once. What do I usually make them do? Fun math and science/nature study, of course!
- Measure the circumference
- Calculate the diameter and radius using only the circumference measurement
- Weigh the pumpkins
- Compare weights
- Measure heights and widths
- Measure the volume
- Estimate the amount of seed
- Count the seeds
- Examine and open the seeds
- Observe the difference between the inner and outer pumpkin shell
- Measure the thickness of the shell
- Examine the stem
- Look for signs to see where the pumpkin touched the ground
- Follow a recipe to make roasted pumpkin seeds
If you have any questions about how to do any of the math tasks I’ve suggested, just ask! They’re all very easy really.
This is a wonderful activity to supplement the NaturExplorers study of Fruits and Nuts this season!
Posted by Cindy on May 23, 2011
Giveaway Closed.
I just finished the manuscript for Homeschooling Gifted Kids and sent it to the publisher! WooHoo!! How about a giveaway to celebrate?
Prufrock Press (my publisher) is partnering with me for a living math giveaway! Today’s your lucky day because I’m going to offer ONE wonderful logic book to TWO lucky winners!
My son, Caleb, and I have used and loved both of these books. Don’t think I’m giving away my copies because they rest on my bookshelf waiting for Eli. 
The winners will get their very own brand-new copies!
Primarily Logic by Judy Leimbach is a fantastic book full of analogies, syllogisms, if-then statements, all-none statements and deductive reasoning for 2nd-4th graders. My son loved the fun worksheet challenges and I loved that each page provided plenty of examples and practice. I also appreciated the step-by-step approach to understanding each type of logic.
Logic Safari (Book 2) by Bonnie Risby is written for 3rd and 4th graders. It’s full of excellent logic matrix puzzles that Caleb (and Mahayla) simply devoured. We love these! This series is available in three different books that are appropriate for 1st-6th grades.
You have until Friday, May 27th to leave a comment on this post for a chance to win one of the books!
If your children are older than 2nd-4th grades, don’t worry. I’ll be giving away two more books very soon which are appropriate for 5-8th graders!
