Florence’s Shells

Florence wanted to make a shell museum in Grandpa’s garden shed. She and Ben had brought their beach finds in a big tub. “How many shells have we got?” Ben asked. Florence tipped them onto a cloth. There were too many to see at a glance.

She started counting, but a shell rolled under the bench. “Was I at twenty-six or twenty-seven?” she asked. Ben fetched the shell. “Let’s put them into groups. Then we won’t have to start all over again.”

Grandpa found some small trays. Florence counted ten shells into each tray. Ben checked each group before moving it aside. They filled four trays. They covered the full trays and marked each lid with 10. Seven shells were still on the cloth. “Four tens and seven ones,” said Florence.

“That makes forty-seven,” said Ben. Florence wrote 47 on a card. Grandpa asked what the four meant. “Four trays of ten,” she said. “It doesn’t mean just four shells. The seven is for the ones left over.”

They put the trays on the museum table. Ben wanted to make a path between the displays. He opened a tray and moved one shell onto the cloth. “Have we still got forty-seven?” he asked. Florence looked carefully at the new arrangement.

“Yes, but that tray has nine now,” she said. “We have three full tens, nine in this tray and eight loose ones.” Ben returned the shell and closed the lid. The four full trays made their total much easier to check.

Florence made labels for the smooth shells and the ridged shells. Ben drew a small sign for the shed door. Grandpa moved the tub out of the doorway. “Your visitors will need room to come in,” he said.

When their neighbours arrived, Florence showed them the trays. “There are forty-seven shells altogether,” she said. One visitor asked how she knew. Florence smiled and pointed to the groups. This time she could explain without counting from one.