Snack time in Kindergarten is math intensive.  Children practice everything from one to one counting to estimation and use all four of the basic operations--addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.  One day recently, late in the week, the snack helpers decided they wanted to serve apples and cheese.   Then began the work of figuring out how many apples. 

"Five, six, twenty?" one Kindergarten snack helper guessed.

     I suggested they start with finding the number of children in the group.  One snack helper collapsed in a chair, apparently exhausted by the thought, while the second went around the room counting.  Seven was the first total announced.

     "Are you sure?" I asked.  Around the room again.  This time calling out, "Thirteen!"

     "There are 12 children in our group, but two aren't here," I said.  One more time around--"Ten!"  The second snack helper, having recovered enough energy, removed two names from the job chart, counted the remaining, and confirmed the count of ten.

     Once the number of children was determined, the snack helpers needed to figure out how many apples.  Each apple is cut into four pieces.  They started with a guess of one.  With repeated addition, they determined that two apples would be eight pieces.  Then one of the snack helpers thought of a short cut.

     "How about we get two apples.  You cut the first one into enough pieces for firsts and the second one for seconds?"

     "Well, you told me there are ten children, so I'd cut the first apple into ten pieces for firsts and the second into ten pieces for seconds?" I confirmed.

     "Yes!" both snack helpers agreed.

     Once we were all at the table, the children began passing the cheese and apples around.  I waited.  When the apples were almost all the way around, a Kindergartner inquired, "Why are the apples so small?"

     The snack helpers explained their plan.  I reminded the children that usually I cut the apples into four pieces each.  A discussion ensued about numbers of pieces versus size of pieces.  This concept of conservation of size is advanced for this age, as is the repeated addition or multiplication/division used to solve the problem of how many apples to get.  Together the children determined that three apples were needed for firsts.  For seconds I cut the pieces half as large, but we stopped the discussion at this point. 

     "Get three for firsts and two for seconds," announced one experienced snack helper who had worked through the problem enough times to have committed the solution to memory.  They all agreed that they wanted bigger apple slices the next time. 

     "Or we could have crackers," one of the weary snack helpers mused.