Leaf Count and Tally

Tally marks exist because counting past twenty out loud goes wrong. Six year olds discover this personally on this sheet, which is the best way to learn why a method exists.

We let them count without tallying first. They lose track. Then we show the tally. The relief is visible.

Use a plant with countable leaves. A young chilli or basil is about right. A mature plant of anything is a disaster and we have inflicted that on a class more than once.

The page has the tally grid, a comparison row for two plants, and a question about why one has more. The answers, more sun and it is older, are both usually correct and both worth chasing.