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Pumpkins Matter!
Pumpkins Matter!
A Grade One thematic unit for the optional unit on Matter. (Amy Lawson)
(Note: In the grade one science curriculum, the units on matter and senses are very closely linked. This unit incorporates use of the senses as a strong recurring practice. For a theme, I have suggested pumpkins! They're inexpensive, fit in wonderfully with a fall or October classroom theme, and are easy to play and experiment with. Using fruits and vegetables would work if you want to do this in another month.)
Lessons (Below) // Resources to Use // Pumpkins in Other Subject Areas // Wiki-Home!
Activities: What’s inside of a pumpkin? This activity is meant to allow the class to explore its properties while using some critical thinking to make predictions along the way. Present several pumpkins (one pumpkin per several students, depending on class size) to the class. Before opening them up, ask the students to make predictions: how many seeds may be in the pumpkin? Will there be more or less in the differently sized pumpkins? What else is inside of the fruit? You may wish to record the answers on a chalkboard, or students may write them down individually or in their small groups. One of several books describing pumpkins would be a good idea before beginning the predicting process. Once the predictions have been made, give the students ample time to dissect and explore the contents of their pumpkins.
Time Frame: Three lessons. (Likely: 20 minutes/60 minutes/20 minutes.) Preferably, to give students more time to explore, the predictions may be made one day, the exploration process may take place another day while recording their findings, and the predictions and results may be revisited during a third lesson. (The third lesson – the recording and revisiting – may set up for the fourth lesson, visually recreating some of the findings, or may be done separately, depending on time limitations.)
Scientific Literacy Factors: A1, A5, B5, B6, C3, E3, F2
Objectives: 1.1, 1.3
CELs: Communication, Numeracy, Critical and Creative Thinking
Resources: I highly recommend reading the book How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? (Margaret Mcnmara) to the class. It may be best as a closing reading, however, so that the guesses of the students are not influenced by the numbers used in the book! For additional reading before the activity, any book that focuses on the descriptive properties of pumpkins, and pays less attention to their role in Halloween, is encouraged for this. Some students may be unfamiliar with pumpkins, so this will help provide some background information! Books that I would recommend for this include:
Organization: Large class sizes may present challenges for these lessons, but it remains possible. Ideally, students will work in small groups, approximately four students to one pumpkin. The teacher and/or assistants will be the ones responsible for safely removing the pumpkin top and using any necessary sharp tools. (This is a good time to stress safety while using carving tools.)
Materials: Pumpkins (amount depends on class size); old newspapers or other floor covering; large board for recording class predictions; scoops, spoons and other tools that children can use with the insides of the pumpkin; scales if you wish to move into measuring and weighing the seeds and pumpkins. If students wish to record individual predictions, their notebooks may be used.
Activities: So what really makes up a pumpkin, anyway? Now that the students have had an opportunity to explore the inside and outside of the fruit for themselves, it is time to begin describing it. The grade one core unit, Senses, will likely have started, so students should have a basic understanding of their five senses. In a circle group, ask students to describe what they saw in and on the pumpkins. Use guiding questions to discuss how the five senses may all be used. What did the pumpkins feel like? Smell like? Look like? Could you hear a pumpkin if you rapped on the side? Has anyone tasted a pumpkin before? After discussion, allow students to return to their workspaces, and provide paper for them (or two simple outlines of a pumpkin.) Ask students to make an image of what the insides and outsides of their pumpkins looked like.
When finished, these may be displayed alongside their predictions for a bulletin board!
Time Frame: 45 minutes.
Scientific Literacy Factors: A1, B5, C3, F2
Objectives: 1.1, 1.3, 1.4
CELs: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Independent Learning
Resources: It is a good idea to have produced your own image of what you believe a pumpkin looks like for an example. Encourage the students to be creative with their own. This is a good lesson to reinforce, or introduce, the five senses. Posters on the senses could be great to place around the classroom right now, so that students would be able to find a visual reminder whenever they need. The book Science Alive: Sensational Senses (Judith Womersley) would be good to read before this lesson, during the circle discussion on the senses.
Photographs taken during the earlier lessons would be great to display alongside the student’s work for the documentation display!
Organization: Having several workstations with materials, and small groups of students to a single workstation, may work best in larger classrooms.
Materials: Paper (and/or simple pumpkin outlines; produce according to desired size); various art materials (paint, markers, crayons, glue, small objects to glue on such as yarn and buttons, and so on); newsprint for table coverings. A pumpkin in the class may be a good visual reminder for students as well.
Activities: How does matter change? If a pumpkin changes, is it still a pumpkin? The grade one matter unit is all about descriptive properties, and this activity should give students a chance to observe how objects can change over time. Taking a hollowed-out pumpkin from the previous lessons, ask students to describe it. Ask them to predict (again, recording as a class may work well) what may happen over time to the pumpkin. Finding a secluded and protected spot outside (if at all possible), leave the hallowed pumpkin there! Once a week, return to the pumpkin with your class and ask them to observe changes. Another possibility is to also place an unhallowed pumpkin outside close to the hallowed one and allow students to compare the two as time goes on. Why do they look different?
Time Frame: 25 minutes (initial lesson), then various revisiting afterwards.
Scientific Literacy Factors: A1, B1, B3, B5, B9(?), C3, F2, G3
Objectives: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3
CELs: Communication, Numeracy, Critical and Creative Thinking
Resources: Before beginning this lesson, the book Mousekin’s Golden House (Edna Miller) would be a wonderful set. Any student who may be upset about a “dying” pumpkin could be reassured with this book!
Change can be covered in other ways, too. Pumpkins are not the only things that change, especially in the season they arrive in, Autumn! Students may be interested to hear books about the changing properties of the season and all that it brings. Some suggestions:
Organization: With small or noisy groups, if someone is available to supervise the classroom, it may be advisable to take several smaller groups out to visit the pumpkins one at a time, and to discuss some of the changing properties in the small groups.
Materials: One hollowed-out pumpkin (preferably from a previous lesson); one unhallowed pumpkin (optional.)
Activities: What makes a pumpkin a pumpkin? What is a pumpkin? What isn’t a pumpkin? Now that students should feel more at home with the descriptive properties of pumpkins, we are able to branch out into other objects. Bring several objects into the classroom, and place them in the middle of a student circle. Make sure to bring objects that may have similar characteristics: a variety of pumpkins (big/small; orange/white); a variety of orange-coloured objects; a variety of round objects; a variety of fruits, and so on. For grade one, you may wish to keep the number of characteristics small – at least initially – and see how easily the concept is understood. Too many objects may be overwhelming.
Draw a chart with two headings on the board: similarities and differences. Begin with two objects at random. Have students answer why the two objects are similar, then different. Talk about how all of the objects in the middle may be a lot alike in some ways, but very different in others. Prompt the students to use various senses in answering. (They feel
Independently, ask students to find two objects and record (through writing or drawing) two ways in which they are the same, and two ways in which they are different. (This activity may lend itself to the adaptive dimension. Pairs may be preferable, or teacher assistance may work as well.) Students may be asked to use only the objects found in the middle of the circle, to choose any two objects in the classroom, or other options.
Time Frame: 40 minutes.
Scientific Literacy Factors: A1, B5, C1, C3, F2
Objectives: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3
CELs: Communication, Personal and Social Values and Skills, Independent Learning
Resources: The focus for the set of this lesson should be about investigating differences. There are many books that could work here; some deal primarily with pumpkins, but books that do not would work as well. I would suggest reading several of these books, possibly during other times of the day or week, as a way to lead up to this activity. Some suggestions: different, and so on.)
Organization: This lesson may be a difficult one to organize, due to the hands-on resources being used. Again, smaller groups – where the student s in the group must select from a smaller pool of objects – may be beneficial. Be quick to watch for students who become frustrated if they are struggling with the independent (or small group) work.
Materials: Various items! Amount depends on class size and class length. Paper and materials for student recording are required, unless student-provided.
Activities: This lesson focuses on similar objects to lesson six, but does so in a different setting. Take a small walk by the school with your class, or rotating small groups of students (if possible.) As you go along, ask them to point out interesting objects, and then objects that are similar to pumpkins. If students do not come up with answers to this quickly, feel free to begin pointing things out for them, stopping as you walk along to act as a guide. A flower: it is like a pumpkin, because they both grow from the ground. It is not
Time Frame: Depends on group size. 15 minutes?
Scientific Literacy Factors: B5, B6, C1, C3, F2, G3
Objectives: 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.2, 2.3
CELs: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social Values and Skills
Organization: Aim to take smaller groups out as opposed to a large group. If a large group is necessary, ensure that students circle around you when you are describing the objects that you find, possibly sitting down for that time. Maintain classroom management strategies while outside.
Materials: Everything that is available outside!
Activities: One of the easiest ways for students to explore the properties of a pumpkin is to carve one. However, budget restrictions and safety reasons (when a sharp knife is required) may limit such a project to a group discovery. For this activity, students may work individually throughout most of the process! Taking large oranges, teachers may cut off the top of oranges and set them aside. Every student will take their own orange. Using spoons, students will be asked to scoop out the orange. (The insides may be saved to make juice!) Students may spoon the orange sherbet (or ice cream) into the carved oranges. Place the top of the oranges back on (liquorice may be stuck on to make a “stem”), and freeze them until they are ready to be consumed!
Time Frame: Roughly 30 minutes.
Scientific Literacy Factors: B3, B5, B6, C3, E3, F2
Objectives: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2,2
CELs: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Independent Learning.
Resources: This activity is based on one featured in Deanna F. Cook’s Kids’ Pumpkin Projects, entitled “Very Cool Pumpkins.” The collection features many other activities to look through!
Organization: Classroom management will be key to ensure that students are taking their time and investigating the orange, rather than quickly cutting through it and doing a poor job. An idea may be to make all students keep their arms raised until all of the students have their orange before they can carve.
Materials: Multiple large oranges. (Amount will depend on class size; extras are always recommended for activities such as this one.) A sharp knife for the teacher’s carving, and carving tools (likely spoons) for the students. A container of orange sherbet, containing enough for every student. Liquorice bits for the stem are an optional touch.
Activities: Decorating pumpkins is always a fun tradition. Carving pumpkins, however, can be dangerous and is very frequently done. But there are other options! For this lesson, students will be provided with their own miniature pumpkin. The orange variety may be used, but white “ghost” miniature pumpkins may take more easily to the paints.
Gather students in the circle. Ask them to name other fruits and vegetables that are not pumpkins. When a student names one, ask if s/he can describe the food. Look for visual adjectives. Returning to their table groups, ask students to paint their pumpkin... like another fruit (or vegetable)! Give as clear as an example as you can. “I want to make my pumpkin look like an apple... so I am painting it red, and painting the stem brown, and...” Some children may not grasp this concept. Encouraging them to paint, and asking them to describe their pumpkin to you afterwards, may be appropriate.
When the pumpkins are completed, they would make a great “pumpkin patch” large classroom display!
Time Frame: 30+ minutes.
Scientific Literacy Factors: A1, B5, B6, C3, E3
Objectives: 1.2, 1.3, 2.2
CELs: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Independent Learning
Resources: Some suggested books to read as a set include:
Organization: Several painting stations may isolate messes and allow for a quieter classroom. The more visible that examples of other fruits and vegetables are, the fewer questions and complaints the students should have about not knowing what things look like.
Materials: Many miniature pumpkins (at least enough for one per student; allow for accidents); painting supplies; newspaper covering; painting clothes for the students.
The website The Pumpkin Nook has a great collection of recipies, found at (http://www.pumpkinnook.com/cookbook.htm). Instead of pumpkin pie, you might decide to go with one of the many alternative options... or several!
A Grade One thematic unit for the optional unit on Matter. (Amy Lawson)
(Note: In the grade one science curriculum, the units on matter and senses are very closely linked. This unit incorporates use of the senses as a strong recurring practice. For a theme, I have suggested pumpkins! They're inexpensive, fit in wonderfully with a fall or October classroom theme, and are easy to play and experiment with. Using fruits and vegetables would work if you want to do this in another month.)
Lessons (Below) // Resources to Use // Pumpkins in Other Subject Areas // Wiki-Home!
Lessons One/Two/Three: What's Inside?
Concept/Topic: Students will be able to form and express their predictions about the contents of their pumpkins; they will be able to realize that one object (a pumpkin) can have many properties. Students will also be able to explore the contents of a pumpkin.Activities: What’s inside of a pumpkin? This activity is meant to allow the class to explore its properties while using some critical thinking to make predictions along the way. Present several pumpkins (one pumpkin per several students, depending on class size) to the class. Before opening them up, ask the students to make predictions: how many seeds may be in the pumpkin? Will there be more or less in the differently sized pumpkins? What else is inside of the fruit? You may wish to record the answers on a chalkboard, or students may write them down individually or in their small groups. One of several books describing pumpkins would be a good idea before beginning the predicting process. Once the predictions have been made, give the students ample time to dissect and explore the contents of their pumpkins.
Time Frame: Three lessons. (Likely: 20 minutes/60 minutes/20 minutes.) Preferably, to give students more time to explore, the predictions may be made one day, the exploration process may take place another day while recording their findings, and the predictions and results may be revisited during a third lesson. (The third lesson – the recording and revisiting – may set up for the fourth lesson, visually recreating some of the findings, or may be done separately, depending on time limitations.)
Scientific Literacy Factors: A1, A5, B5, B6, C3, E3, F2
Objectives: 1.1, 1.3
CELs: Communication, Numeracy, Critical and Creative Thinking
Resources: I highly recommend reading the book How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? (Margaret Mcnmara) to the class. It may be best as a closing reading, however, so that the guesses of the students are not influenced by the numbers used in the book! For additional reading before the activity, any book that focuses on the descriptive properties of pumpkins, and pays less attention to their role in Halloween, is encouraged for this. Some students may be unfamiliar with pumpkins, so this will help provide some background information! Books that I would recommend for this include:
- Apples and Pumpkins. (Anne Rockwell)
- A Fruit is a Suitcase for Seeds. (Jean Richards)
- It’s Pumpkin Time! (Zoe Hall)
- Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden. (George Levenson)
- The Pumpkin Patch. (Elizabeth King)
- Welcome Books: From Seed to Pumpkin. (Jan Kottke)
Organization: Large class sizes may present challenges for these lessons, but it remains possible. Ideally, students will work in small groups, approximately four students to one pumpkin. The teacher and/or assistants will be the ones responsible for safely removing the pumpkin top and using any necessary sharp tools. (This is a good time to stress safety while using carving tools.)
Materials: Pumpkins (amount depends on class size); old newspapers or other floor covering; large board for recording class predictions; scoops, spoons and other tools that children can use with the insides of the pumpkin; scales if you wish to move into measuring and weighing the seeds and pumpkins. If students wish to record individual predictions, their notebooks may be used.
Lesson Four: What Did We See?
Concept/Topic: Students will be able to visually represent a pumpkin and its properties. Students will also be able to recall their findings and reproduce them, and utilize their senses for description.Activities: So what really makes up a pumpkin, anyway? Now that the students have had an opportunity to explore the inside and outside of the fruit for themselves, it is time to begin describing it. The grade one core unit, Senses, will likely have started, so students should have a basic understanding of their five senses. In a circle group, ask students to describe what they saw in and on the pumpkins. Use guiding questions to discuss how the five senses may all be used. What did the pumpkins feel like? Smell like? Look like? Could you hear a pumpkin if you rapped on the side? Has anyone tasted a pumpkin before? After discussion, allow students to return to their workspaces, and provide paper for them (or two simple outlines of a pumpkin.) Ask students to make an image of what the insides and outsides of their pumpkins looked like.
When finished, these may be displayed alongside their predictions for a bulletin board!
Time Frame: 45 minutes.
Scientific Literacy Factors: A1, B5, C3, F2
Objectives: 1.1, 1.3, 1.4
CELs: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Independent Learning
Resources: It is a good idea to have produced your own image of what you believe a pumpkin looks like for an example. Encourage the students to be creative with their own. This is a good lesson to reinforce, or introduce, the five senses. Posters on the senses could be great to place around the classroom right now, so that students would be able to find a visual reminder whenever they need. The book Science Alive: Sensational Senses (Judith Womersley) would be good to read before this lesson, during the circle discussion on the senses.
Photographs taken during the earlier lessons would be great to display alongside the student’s work for the documentation display!
Organization: Having several workstations with materials, and small groups of students to a single workstation, may work best in larger classrooms.
Materials: Paper (and/or simple pumpkin outlines; produce according to desired size); various art materials (paint, markers, crayons, glue, small objects to glue on such as yarn and buttons, and so on); newsprint for table coverings. A pumpkin in the class may be a good visual reminder for students as well.
Lesson Five: These Changing Things...
Concept/Topic: Students will be able to understand that properties of matter are not always static. Students will be able to describe the changing properties of a pumpkin.Activities: How does matter change? If a pumpkin changes, is it still a pumpkin? The grade one matter unit is all about descriptive properties, and this activity should give students a chance to observe how objects can change over time. Taking a hollowed-out pumpkin from the previous lessons, ask students to describe it. Ask them to predict (again, recording as a class may work well) what may happen over time to the pumpkin. Finding a secluded and protected spot outside (if at all possible), leave the hallowed pumpkin there! Once a week, return to the pumpkin with your class and ask them to observe changes. Another possibility is to also place an unhallowed pumpkin outside close to the hallowed one and allow students to compare the two as time goes on. Why do they look different?
Time Frame: 25 minutes (initial lesson), then various revisiting afterwards.
Scientific Literacy Factors: A1, B1, B3, B5, B9(?), C3, F2, G3
Objectives: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3
CELs: Communication, Numeracy, Critical and Creative Thinking
Resources: Before beginning this lesson, the book Mousekin’s Golden House (Edna Miller) would be a wonderful set. Any student who may be upset about a “dying” pumpkin could be reassured with this book!
Change can be covered in other ways, too. Pumpkins are not the only things that change, especially in the season they arrive in, Autumn! Students may be interested to hear books about the changing properties of the season and all that it brings. Some suggestions:
- An Autumn Tale. (David Updike)
- Let’s Look at the Seasons: Autumn Days. (Ann Schweninger)
- When Autumn Comes. (Robert Maass)
Organization: With small or noisy groups, if someone is available to supervise the classroom, it may be advisable to take several smaller groups out to visit the pumpkins one at a time, and to discuss some of the changing properties in the small groups.
Materials: One hollowed-out pumpkin (preferably from a previous lesson); one unhallowed pumpkin (optional.)
Lesson Six: The Pumpkin Potluck
Concept/Topic: Students will learn how to sort objects by their characteristics. Students will be able to point out both similarities and differences between pumpkins and other objects.Activities: What makes a pumpkin a pumpkin? What is a pumpkin? What isn’t a pumpkin? Now that students should feel more at home with the descriptive properties of pumpkins, we are able to branch out into other objects. Bring several objects into the classroom, and place them in the middle of a student circle. Make sure to bring objects that may have similar characteristics: a variety of pumpkins (big/small; orange/white); a variety of orange-coloured objects; a variety of round objects; a variety of fruits, and so on. For grade one, you may wish to keep the number of characteristics small – at least initially – and see how easily the concept is understood. Too many objects may be overwhelming.
Draw a chart with two headings on the board: similarities and differences. Begin with two objects at random. Have students answer why the two objects are similar, then different. Talk about how all of the objects in the middle may be a lot alike in some ways, but very different in others. Prompt the students to use various senses in answering. (They feel
Independently, ask students to find two objects and record (through writing or drawing) two ways in which they are the same, and two ways in which they are different. (This activity may lend itself to the adaptive dimension. Pairs may be preferable, or teacher assistance may work as well.) Students may be asked to use only the objects found in the middle of the circle, to choose any two objects in the classroom, or other options.
Time Frame: 40 minutes.
Scientific Literacy Factors: A1, B5, C1, C3, F2
Objectives: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3
CELs: Communication, Personal and Social Values and Skills, Independent Learning
Resources: The focus for the set of this lesson should be about investigating differences. There are many books that could work here; some deal primarily with pumpkins, but books that do not would work as well. I would suggest reading several of these books, possibly during other times of the day or week, as a way to lead up to this activity. Some suggestions: different, and so on.)
- The Bumpy Little Pumpkin. (Margery Cuyler)
- The Littlest Pumpkin. (R.A. Herman)
- Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf. (Lois Ehlert)
- Round is a Pancake. (Joan Sullivan Baranski)
Organization: This lesson may be a difficult one to organize, due to the hands-on resources being used. Again, smaller groups – where the student s in the group must select from a smaller pool of objects – may be beneficial. Be quick to watch for students who become frustrated if they are struggling with the independent (or small group) work.
Materials: Various items! Amount depends on class size and class length. Paper and materials for student recording are required, unless student-provided.
Lesson Seven: How Are These Alike?
Concept/Topic: Students will be able to apply their understandings of similarities and differences to a variety of objects. Activities: This lesson focuses on similar objects to lesson six, but does so in a different setting. Take a small walk by the school with your class, or rotating small groups of students (if possible.) As you go along, ask them to point out interesting objects, and then objects that are similar to pumpkins. If students do not come up with answers to this quickly, feel free to begin pointing things out for them, stopping as you walk along to act as a guide. A flower: it is like a pumpkin, because they both grow from the ground. It is not
Time Frame: Depends on group size. 15 minutes?
Scientific Literacy Factors: B5, B6, C1, C3, F2, G3
Objectives: 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.2, 2.3
CELs: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social Values and Skills
Organization: Aim to take smaller groups out as opposed to a large group. If a large group is necessary, ensure that students circle around you when you are describing the objects that you find, possibly sitting down for that time. Maintain classroom management strategies while outside.
Materials: Everything that is available outside!
Lesson Eight: "Orange" You Glad That I Can Carve, Too?
Concept/Topic: Students will be able to explore carving in an inexpensive and safe way, and be able to compare properties of similar foods while doing so. Students will develop an appreciation for my horrible orange-related puns.Activities: One of the easiest ways for students to explore the properties of a pumpkin is to carve one. However, budget restrictions and safety reasons (when a sharp knife is required) may limit such a project to a group discovery. For this activity, students may work individually throughout most of the process! Taking large oranges, teachers may cut off the top of oranges and set them aside. Every student will take their own orange. Using spoons, students will be asked to scoop out the orange. (The insides may be saved to make juice!) Students may spoon the orange sherbet (or ice cream) into the carved oranges. Place the top of the oranges back on (liquorice may be stuck on to make a “stem”), and freeze them until they are ready to be consumed!
Time Frame: Roughly 30 minutes.
Scientific Literacy Factors: B3, B5, B6, C3, E3, F2
Objectives: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2,2
CELs: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Independent Learning.
Resources: This activity is based on one featured in Deanna F. Cook’s Kids’ Pumpkin Projects, entitled “Very Cool Pumpkins.” The collection features many other activities to look through!
Organization: Classroom management will be key to ensure that students are taking their time and investigating the orange, rather than quickly cutting through it and doing a poor job. An idea may be to make all students keep their arms raised until all of the students have their orange before they can carve.
Materials: Multiple large oranges. (Amount will depend on class size; extras are always recommended for activities such as this one.) A sharp knife for the teacher’s carving, and carving tools (likely spoons) for the students. A container of orange sherbet, containing enough for every student. Liquorice bits for the stem are an optional touch.
Lesson Nine: Pumpkin Painting
Concept/Topic: Students will be able to visually give one object (pumpkins) a property of another object. Activities: Decorating pumpkins is always a fun tradition. Carving pumpkins, however, can be dangerous and is very frequently done. But there are other options! For this lesson, students will be provided with their own miniature pumpkin. The orange variety may be used, but white “ghost” miniature pumpkins may take more easily to the paints.
Gather students in the circle. Ask them to name other fruits and vegetables that are not pumpkins. When a student names one, ask if s/he can describe the food. Look for visual adjectives. Returning to their table groups, ask students to paint their pumpkin... like another fruit (or vegetable)! Give as clear as an example as you can. “I want to make my pumpkin look like an apple... so I am painting it red, and painting the stem brown, and...” Some children may not grasp this concept. Encouraging them to paint, and asking them to describe their pumpkin to you afterwards, may be appropriate.
When the pumpkins are completed, they would make a great “pumpkin patch” large classroom display!
Time Frame: 30+ minutes.
Scientific Literacy Factors: A1, B5, B6, C3, E3
Objectives: 1.2, 1.3, 2.2
CELs: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Independent Learning
Resources: Some suggested books to read as a set include:
- The ABC’s of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond. (Steve Charney, David Goldbeck)
- Eating the Alphabet. (Lois Ehlert)
- It’s a Fruit, It’s a Vegetable, It’s a Pumpkin. (Allan Fowler)
- Planting a Rainbow. (Lois Ehlert)
Organization: Several painting stations may isolate messes and allow for a quieter classroom. The more visible that examples of other fruits and vegetables are, the fewer questions and complaints the students should have about not knowing what things look like.
Materials: Many miniature pumpkins (at least enough for one per student; allow for accidents); painting supplies; newspaper covering; painting clothes for the students.
Unit Closure
Is there any way to finish up a unit on pumpkins without at least enjoying some pumpkin pie with your students? The sense of taste is an important one too! (And pumpkin seeds are always easy to roast as well! The book “Big Pumpkin” would make a great set to this lesson. Read the story (or another book featuring people making a pumpkin pie) before telling the students what the activity will be. See if they start to guess! The book “How to Make an Apple Pie and see the World” is another nice suggestion, and both may be used. While the pie featured here is an apple one, not a pumpkin, it is a whimsical look at piemaking that can lend itself to creativity. If you will be actually making the pie with your students, not merely serving it, I recommend this one!The website The Pumpkin Nook has a great collection of recipies, found at (http://www.pumpkinnook.com/cookbook.htm). Instead of pumpkin pie, you might decide to go with one of the many alternative options... or several!
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