Make Math Fun

Today we are going to make a graph and show children how we can chart our likes and dislikes and come up with many mathematical conclusions.  

Items needed:

Cut fruits (any type of food) and put one piece in a plastic baggie enough for each student.  

We will use:


watermelon
red apples
green apples
mango

color markers


Graph paper


To begin:

(Be sure to check children's allergy charts to be sure no children are allergic to foods)

Take the graph paper and label four rows with each fruit you are going to be tasting.

Have children sit at their desks have a student help passing out one baggie of one type of fruit at a time. Have the students taste the fruit, lets use watermelon first.  Then ask for a show of hands to express their like or dislike for the piece they have just tasted.

As they raise their hands count out how many students like watermelon and color the corresponding blocks in a row under the heading watermelon.  Continue with each fruit in the same manner.  Ask for different observations about the texture, do they have seeds etc while tasting.

Once all fruit has been tasted and tallied ask the children to raise their hands to give answers to the following questions:

• Which fruit has the most blocks colored?  

• Would this be the best tasting fruit?

• Which is the least favorite tasting fruit?

• Are any columns the same?

• How many _________?

• Are their more _________ or more ________?

• How many more __________are there than _________?

• How many fewer ____________ are their than ___________?

• How many are their altogether?

(Bleakley, 2012)

Watch the YouTube video for an example of making a chart with young children. 
 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfwUKZ7lOsM&feature=colike