Minds On

The 10 Seed Diner

Tumbleweed the hamster works at a restaurant called the 10 Seed Diner.

He takes orders for food from customers.

Examine the following orders. What do you notice about the food served at the 10 Seed Diner?

When you’re ready, press ‘10 Seed Diner’ to learn more about the food that customers can order at Tumbleweed’s restaurant.

At the 10 Seed Diner:

  • they serve 4 types of seeds: sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and pumpkin seeds
  • every order has exactly 10 seeds
  • the 10 seeds can all be the same type or a mix of different types

Action

How many seeds?

At the 10 Seed Diner, every order of food has exactly 10 seeds!

Customers can choose to order one of the following:

  • 10 seeds of one kind
  • a mix of seed types as long as there are 10 seeds in total

Brainstorm

Brainstorm

How many different ways can we make 10?

Using a method of your choice, such as drawings, counters, or with numbers, show how many different ways we can make a total of 10.

What's wrong?

Tumbleweed the Hamster and Sal the rat eat seeds together

Tumbleweed is taking a break from work and having lunch with his friend, Sal the rat.

They each ordered 10 sunflower seeds, but something is wrong with their orders!

Examine the following image of each of their plates.

Two plates side by side. On the left plate there are 9 sunflower seeds and a label under the plate that says: Tumbleweed’s plate. On the right plate there are 8 sunflower seeds and a label under the plate that says: Sal’s plate.

The plates do not have 10 seeds on each of them!

Tumbleweed has 9 seeds. Sal has 8 seeds.

Test Your Skills

Adding seeds

Use mental math skills to answer the following question:

  • How many seeds do Tumbleweed and Sal have altogether?

Press the following tabs to access some examples of mental math strategies to add numbers together.

We can make our best guess by noticing patterns or groups of items.

Let’s examine Tumbleweed and Sal’s plates that now show one possible pattern.

Two plates side by side. On the left plate there are 9 sunflower seeds and a label under the plate that says: Tumbleweed’s plate. On the right plate there are 8 sunflower seeds and a label under the plate that says: Sal’s plate. The seeds combined from both plates are circled to create 4 groups of 5. There are 2 seeds leftover.

The seeds are in groups of 5.

We can skip count by 5 and notice any seeds not in groups. This helps us to make our best guess.

Borrow from one number to make a group of 10. Now add the friendlier numbers.

Two ten frames side by side. The frame on the left has 9 coloured circles. The frame on the right has 8 circles of a different colour. An arrow shows the last circle in the 8 frame will “move” to the empty space in the 9 frame. Across the top of the whole image appears the text: “9 + 8 = 17”.

Examine the final result. Now the first ten frame is full of ten circles. The second ten frame has seven circles. This makes it easier to count seventeen circles.

Two ten frames side by side. The frame on the left has 10 circles (9 of one colour and 1 of another colour). The frame on the right has 7 circles matching the colour of the single circle in the other frame. Across the top of the whole image appears the text: “10 + 7 = 17”.

Start at the larger number and jump, or count on, by the smaller number.

A number line from 0 to 20 with each individual number displayed on it. A dot appears at the number 9, and 8 curved arrows are shown starting at 9 and each going up one unit until they end at 17. Across the top of the whole image appears the text: “9 + 8 = 17”.

Sharing seeds

Twenty sesame seeds with a circle around 6 of them. There is a label underneath the circled 6 seeds that says 6 seeds for Sal. There is a title across the whole image that says 20 sesame seeds total.

Tumbleweed orders 20 sesame seeds.

He shares 6 seeds with his friend Sal.

Test Your Skills

Subtracting seeds

Use mental math skills to answer the following question:

  • How many seeds does Tumbleweed have left after sharing with Sal?

Press the following tabs to access some examples of mental math strategies to subtract numbers.

Start at the smaller number and jump, or count forward, to the larger number.

How many jumps did it take to get to the larger number?

A Number Line from 6 to 20 showing jumps of plus one between every number. There is the text 14 jumps across the top of the image. The bottom of the image says The difference between 6 and 20 is 14.

Start at the larger number and count back by the smaller number.

A number line from 6 to 20 with each individual number displayed on it. Six arrows counting down one number at a time starting at 20 and ending on 14. Across the top of the image it says 20 − 6 = 14.

Pause and Reflect

Pause and reflect

  • Which strategies did you like best?
  • Which ones do you need a little more practice with?

Consolidation

Let’s practice!

Let’s practice using mental math strategies!

Answer the following questions using one of the mental math strategies explored in the Action section or using another of your choice.

Press the following tabs to access the questions to answer.

Sal the rat and Tumbleweed the Hamster eat seeds together

Tumbleweed has 9 pumpkin seeds.

Sal has 11 pumpkin seeds.

How many seeds do they have altogether?

Tumbleweed has 15 sesame seeds.

He eats 5 of them.

How many seeds does he have left?

Student Success

Think

Which mental math strategies did you use to solve the questions?

Share your thoughts with a partner, if possible.

Reflection

How do you feel about what you have learned in this activity?  Which of the next four sentences best matches how you are feeling about your learning? Press the button that is beside this sentence.

I feel…

Now, record your ideas about your feelings using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.