What about Watermelon?

So here’s the key to the secret of life: is watermelon a fruit or a vegetable? Some say it’s a fruit because it comes from a flower and it has seeds — up to 800 of them. But other say it’s a cousin of the cucumber! Watermelon is 9/10 water by weight, hence its name. It turns out you can eat any part of it, even the rind…they say it tastes good pickled. Now that summer’s here, now’s your chance to try it!

Wee ones: Watermelons are green on the outside. Try to find 4 green things in your room.

Little kids: If you’ve spat out 2 seeds from a watermelon, what numbers are the next 3 seeds?  Bonus: We can’t tell you how many seeds are in your watermelon slice, but if you double that number and add 1, you get 9. How many seeds does it have?

Big kids: If you slice a watermelon into 7 circle slabs, then cut each circle into 4 slices, do you have enough slices for 2 dozen people?  Bonus: If there are between 200 and 800 seeds in that watermelon, how many numbers of seeds are there that would give each of those 28 slices a multiple of 10 seeds?

Answers:

Wee ones: Possible items include shirts, socks, live plants, and building toys like Legos.

Little kids: 3, 4, 5.  Bonus: 4 seeds. If you added 1 at the end to get 9, you had 8 before that, and if you doubled to get 8, you must have started with half of that, which is 4.

Big kids: Yes! You’ll have 28 slices for 24 people.  Bonus: There are just 2 ways: 280 seeds, and 560 seeds. You need multiples of 28 that are also multiples of 10.

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