Pumpkin Seeds Spreadsheet Evaluation

Having viewed the presentation titled "Do Larger Pumkins Have More Seeds" I can see many uses for spreadsheets in the classroom. In this lesson the students make predicitons and gather data about the size of pumkins and the amount of seeds they contain. They then enter the data onto a teacher generated spreadsheet and used this to create a graph. This gave them the opportunity to see a visual representation of the data and any patterns that may occur. I think this was a great way to introduce using spreadsheets to a class.
By having the students collect the data that they were using it gave them ownership over the project. The use of predictions also allowed them to see what the connections or lack of connections between what they think and what is real.
As a teacher of slightly older children I could see myself using this method of creating the spreadsheets for students to enter the data into and as they progress or for those that are more advanced I could provide the support and opportunity for them to become more involved with the initial creation of the spreadsheet. I could imagine using the same structure of this lesson but using it to study many different things like the circumference of a tree trunk in comparison to it's height, height and weight of people,size and weight of other fruit and vegetables,chance of rolling a 6 on a dice, time and distance of runnning, walking, skipping students, the list is endless.
What a great tool for engaging students in the chance and data aspect of mathmatics!