Nancy’s Plant Orders
Shared Reading Books · Numeracy · Year 4Nancy was helping Uncle Ben prepare plant orders at the community greenhouse. Six neighbours had asked for the same pack of eight small plants. Samuel brought some carrying boxes to the bench. “How many plants do we need altogether?” he asked. Nancy reached for their order sheet.
She could add eight six times, but she wanted a method she could check easily. “I know five eights,” Samuel said. “Five groups of eight make forty.” Nancy looked at the six orders. “Then we need one more group of eight.”
Forty plus eight made forty-eight. Nancy wrote the total beside the orders. Uncle Ben asked how she knew the extra eight belonged there. “We worked out five packs first,” she said. “The sixth pack is the one we still have to include.”
Samuel checked another way. Three packs would need twenty-four plants. Another three packs would need twenty-four too. Twenty-four and twenty-four made forty-eight. Nancy compared the answers. Splitting six packs into five and one, or into three and three, had given the same total.
They began filling the carrying boxes. Nancy counted each pack before Samuel moved it to the collection shelf. Uncle Ben checked that the plants were strong enough to travel. They did not want an empty space in a pack or a bent stem hidden beneath the leaves.
One cardboard divider had folded over inside a box. A plant would not sit level. Samuel lifted the plant out while Nancy straightened the divider. They checked the pack again before moving it. The order was still complete, and the pot was now supported properly.
When the neighbours arrived, Nancy showed them where their packs were waiting. Samuel handed out the care notes. Uncle Ben helped carry the boxes to the gate. Nancy ticked each order only after it had been collected, so nobody’s pack was missed.
The bench was clear by the end of the afternoon. “Six eights really did make forty-eight,” Samuel said. Nancy put away the order sheet. Knowing the total had helped them prepare, and checking each pack had made sure the plants reached the right people.