"How many seeds are in a pumpkin?" Mr. Tiffin asks his class as they gather around the big, medium, and small pumpkins on his desk. Robert, the biggest kid, guesses that the largest one has a million seeds; Elinor, sounding like she knows what she's talking about, guesses the medium one has 500 seeds; and Anna, who likes even numbers better than odd ones, guesses that the little one has 22. Charlie, the smallest boy in the class, doesn't have a guess.
Counting pumpkin seeds is messy business, but once the slimy job is done, to everyone's surprise, the smallest pumpkin has the most seeds! As Charlie happily exclaims, "Small things have a lot going on inside of them."
Our class simulated this experiment and enjoyed learning that pollination, pumpkin variety, and time on the vine determine how many lines are on a pumpkin-and how many seeds are inside. We were surprised by the results: our smallest pumpkin had the MOST seeds! It had 147 seeds. The biggest pumpkin had only 123 seeds.
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