Ruby’s Garden Vote

Ruby’s class had a new planter outside their room. Their teacher asked what they would like to grow. “Flowers!” said Ruby. “Carrots!” said someone else. Another child suggested mint. The six children in the gardening group had a choice to make.

Their teacher laid out three picture cards: a flower, a carrot and a mint leaf. Each child received one large counter. “Put your counter by your favourite,” she said. “One counter means one vote from one person.”

Ruby put her counter by the flower. The others took their turns. At first the counters were scattered around the cards. Ruby tried to compare the groups. “It is hard to see which has the most when they are spread out.”

She lined the counters up in rows, starting beside each card. Three counters stood by the flower, two by the carrot and one by the mint. The counters were the same size and touched neatly in each row.

“Flowers have the most votes,” said Ruby. “Mint has the fewest.” Their teacher asked how she knew. Ruby pointed. “Three is more than two or one. I can count the counters and compare the rows.”

One child wanted to add another counter for carrots. Ruby paused. “That would give you two votes,” she said. The teacher nodded. “To make this a fair class vote, each of the six children has one counter.”

They checked the total together. Three flower votes, two carrot votes and one mint vote made six. Everyone’s vote was there. The group agreed to grow flowers in the planter and try herbs in a small pot another time.

Later, Ruby helped carry the empty flowerpots outside. She looked at their rows of counters once more. “Our pictures helped us choose,” she said. Their teacher put the record on the garden table, ready for everyone to see.