It’s the Great Pumpkin Exploration



It’s the Great Pumpkin Exploration

Children’s Literature & 5E Science Lesson Plan for First Graders

By Emily Fox

Title and Author of Fiction Book: It’s Pumpkin Time by Zoe Hall

This is a fiction story about a brother and sister who are getting ready for Halloween. They go through the steps of how pumpkins start from seeds and grow. It finishes off with their carved Jack-o-lantern and their trick-or-treating festivities. This is an easy book that introduces the steps of the pumpkin life cycle through the use of fictional characters.

List of Non-Fiction Support Books:

Picking Apples and Pumpkins by Amy and Richard Hutchings

This non-fiction children’s book depicts children gathering apples and pumpkins in the autumn. It offers real photographs of the activities and describes the process of picking apples and gathering pumpkins. This book is especially good when discussing comparisons between apples and pumpkins.

Pumpkins by Melvin and Gilda Berger

This non-fiction book also uses real photographs to briefly describe the life-cycle of the pumpkin and the multiple ways we use pumpkins. It has several “fun facts” about pumpkins, including facts about size and ways to eat a pumpkin. This book would be an easy read for first graders to read themselves.

Pumpkins by Ken Robbins

This is a more detailed children’s non-fiction that describes the life-cycle and uses for pumpkins. The photographs used in this book are incredibly artistic, vivid, and rich in color. The book includes instructions for carving a jack-o-lantern. This book is probably the most educational and visually pleasing of the listed recommended books.

Science Specific Standards Addressed in Your Activity:

GRADE 1

Competency Goal 3: The learner will make observations and conduct investigations to build an understanding of the properties and relationship of objects.

Objective 3.02: Investigate several ways in which objects can be described, sorted, or classified.

Objective 3.03 Classify solids according to their properties: color, texture, shape, ability to float or sink.

Content Standards for Other Disciplines:

GRADE 1

Language Arts: Objective 2.03, Objective 2.07, Objective 4.02, Objective 4.06

Math: Objective 1.01, Objective 2.01, Objective 5.01

Social Studies: Objective 4.04

Background Information for Teacher:

• Pumpkins are fruits, not vegetables because they have seeds inside of them.

• Pumpkins have been growing in America for over 5,000 years. They are indigenous to the western hemisphere and were completely unknown in Europe before the time of Columbus.

• Pumpkins were first reportedly found in 1584 by French explorer Jacques Cartier.

• Pumpkins can vary in color from white to yellow to orange.

• The world’s biggest pumpkin reported was 1,789 pounds in 2007. Grown by Joe Jutrus in Rhode Island.

• North Carolina State Record: 1178 pounds by Sam Lovelace from Sparta, NC.

Description of Activity:

**If possible, this activity is easiest to carry out with fewer students. Splitting a large class into smaller groups is ideal. I taught this lesson to half of the class while the other half was involved in another lesson about the life cycle of a pumpkin. Then we switched groups so that everyone got to participate in both lessons.

Materials Needed:

➢ Several different shaped pumpkins and gourds. Enough for each couple of students to have their own.

➢ Carving knife

➢ Books: It’s Pumpkin Time by Zoe Hall, Pumpkins by Melvin Berger

➢ Pumpkin booklets (outline provided)

o Includes: orange construction paper, writing paper, orange yarn, pumpkin seeds, glue, scissors

➢ Unit cubes for measuring

➢ Yarn for measuring

➢ Several plastic containers filled with water (for sink or float)

• Engage:

o Ask students “What do you know about pumpkins?”

o Read It’s Pumpkin Time

o Ask “What did you learn about pumpkins?

o Sing Five Little Pumpkins Chant

▪ “Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate (show 5 fingers)

The first one said, ‘Oh my it’s getting late!” (Hands on cheeks)

The second one said ‘there are witches in the air’ (look scared)

The third one said ‘I don’t care!’ (hands out, palms up)

The fourth one said, ‘Let’s run and run and run’ (stomp feet to feign running)

The fifth one said, ‘It’s only Halloween fun!’ (shake pointer finter)

Then wooooo went the wind….(sway arms back and forth)

And out (clap) went the lights

And the five little pumpkins (show five fingers) Rolled out of sight!” (roll arms)

• Explore:

o Have several different pumpkins for viewing.

o Ask for some describing words about pumpkins

▪ orange, yellow, green, round or funny-shaped, creases

o Split students in pairs. Each set of partners has one pumpkin to investigate. A worksheet for recording will be provided. Partners work together to:

▪ Count the number of creases.

▪ Measure the height of the pumpkin in cubes.

▪ Measure the width of the pumpkin with piece of yarn, then measuring with cubes

▪ Test whether their pumpkin floats or sinks

▪ Entire group has a rolling race to see whose pumpkin rolls to the finish line first.

• Explain:

o Students discuss their findings about different pumpkins.

▪ Teacher prompts for inferences.

• “Do the taller pumpkins have more creases?”

• “Do wider pumpkins roll easier?”

• “Did they all float or sink?”

o Teacher tells of pumpkin facts.

▪ The biggest pumpkin recorded

• The world’s biggest pumpkin reported was 1,789 pounds in 2007. Grown by Joe Jutrus in Rhode Island.

▪ History of the pumpkin

• originated from the Greek word for "large melon" which is "pepon."

• Native Americans dried strips of pumpkin and wove them into mats. They also roasted long strips of pumpkin on the open fire and ate them. The origin of pumpkin pie occurred when the colonists sliced off the pumpkin top, removed the seeds, and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. The pumpkin was then baked in hot ashes.

• Jack-o-Lanterns began in Ireland and Scotland, by carving scary faces into turnips and potatoes. In England, used large beets. When immigrants came to America, they brought the tradition and found pumpkins.

▪ Pumpkins are fruits, not vegetables.

• Seeds

▪ Differences between pumpkins and squash

• Pumpkins, squash and gourds are members of the vine crops called "cucurbits."

• The variety called squash is gray to green and larger one called a pumpkin is pinkish to orange.

• Stems- “pumpkins” have the harder stems, “squash” are softer

o Read Pumpkins by Melvin and Gilda Berger

• Expand:

o Cut open a pumpkin. Based on their earlier findings, students predict if there will be lots of seeds inside based on the size of the pumpkin.

o Let students look, feel, and smell inside. Students will describe how it feels, smells, and looks.

o Class may construct a poem using these describing words about pumpkins.

• Evaluate:

o Students create their pumpkin booklet about their observations.

▪ The worksheet they have been filling out will be inside the booklet.

▪ Students write what their pumpkin felt, smelled, and looked like.

▪ Show what the insides looked like by gluing actual seeds and orange yarn for the “guts”.

Assessments:

Constant formative assessment of what students have learned from the story as well as their observations. The pumpkin booklet with their findings will be the final summative assessment.

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