#548. Friendship Salad

Mathematics, level: Elementary
Posted Sat Aug 1 20:27:03 PDT 1998 by Misha Rice (SassyTch@aol.com).
A Generation Ahead , Chicago, USA
Materials Required: fruits brought in by students, plain yogurt or whipped cream
Activity Time: 1 hour or more
Concepts Taught: sorting, weighing, measuring, writing

Send out a letter to parents asking them to send in some type of fruit with their child on the day that you want to make the Friendship Salad. Let the parents know that it can be something simple, like apples or oranges, or something different, like papaya or mango. Also, be sure to ask for a couple of parent helpers to come in that day to help with the preparation of the salad. On the day that you plan to make the Friendship Salad, have the students sit in a circle with their fruit, and go around and have everyone go around and tell what they brought, and have them put their fruit in the middle of the circle. After everyone has put their fruit in the middle, start asking for suggestions on how to sort the fruits. More than likely, the kids will start off by asking you to put all the apples together in a group, or something of that nature. As you get past the obvious attributes of the fruits (i.e.- size, shape, color, type of fruit), the students will start getting creative and have you sort the fruit in ways such as fruit with stickers on them, or fruit in a bag. When the group starts running out of ideas, have them take a piece of fruit (doesn't have to be the one they brought with them), and use items in the classroom (I would suggest items from Math Their Way junk boxes), and have the students measure and weigh their fruit. Then have them draw a picture of their fruit, and write about what it looks like, how long it is (using the manipulatives that they measured it with as their units), and how much it weighs (again, manipulatives will be their units). Then, have all the children bring the fruit back to the middle of the circle, and share their pictures and writing. While the children are sharing their pictures and findings, have your parent helpers start to collect the fruits, and have them washed and cut up all the fruit and put it all into a bowl. Mix in the whipped cream or plain yogurt, and serve to your class for a wonderful snack made possible by very good friends. Enjoy!! =)