Harry’s Plant Stand

Harry and Kate were getting seedlings ready for a plant swap. Dad had built a low stand with three shelves. Each shelf could hold four small pots. Harry put a few pots on the top shelf, then paused. “How many will fit altogether?”

Kate began counting spaces one by one. Harry pointed to the shelves. “They are all the same length. Could we count one shelf and use that?” Dad handed him four empty pots to try. They fitted neatly, with room for their leaves.

Harry put four pots on the middle shelf and four on the bottom. Every shelf held the same number. Kate counted in fours. “Four, eight, twelve. Three groups of four make twelve.” Harry checked that no spaces had been missed.

They carried the pots to a garden table. Kate arranged them in three straight rows of four. Harry could see the same pattern from above. “It’s like the shelves lying flat,” he said. Dad called this arrangement an array.

Harry walked round to the next side of the table. Now he saw four rows of three. “Three, six, nine, twelve!” he counted. Kate checked from her side again. Both ways gave twelve. Looking across the array in a different direction had not changed how many pots they had.

They chose the strongest seedlings for the stand. A leaf caught on Harry’s sleeve as he lifted one pot. He stopped and freed it gently. Kate watered each plant a little before handing it over. They wanted every seedling to arrive safely.

Soon all three shelves were full. Harry made a small picture of the stand for their plant-swap sign. He drew four pots on each shelf. Kate checked the drawing against the real stand. “Twelve here, and twelve there,” she said.

At the swap, a neighbour asked how many plants they had brought. Harry pointed to the shelves. “Three fours, so twelve,” he said. Kate stood beside him. She could explain it as four threes too. They both knew where to look.