We started by using our pumpkin for math. We measured the height, circumference and weight. The kids had to make estimates before we actually measured each of these aspects.
The height was measured using cubes. Each child constructed a tower of cubes to show how tall they thought the pumpkin was. They recorded these on their paper by coloring in the corresponding number of boxes. Everyone got to compare their tower to the pumpkin, identifying whether their tower was taller or shorter than the pumpkin. Then everyone recorded the actual height and circled whether their estimate was more or less than the actual amount.
The next day, we estimated the circumference of the pumpkin by cutting lengths of yarn. I helped them measure the yarn with a ruler so they could record it on their paper. Each student wrapped their yarn around the pumpkin to see if it was too short, too long, or just right!
As they measured, I gave each student a piece of tape to place their yarn in the correct category on our chart. I think they did pretty well with estimating the height and circumference!
Estimating the weight of the pumpkin was a different story! I passed the pumpkin around for each child to hold it and guess how many pounds they thought it was. 44, 43, 38. . . this was a sugar pumpkin (the little ones you use to make pie!) To get their estimates a little closer I told them they should guess a number less than 20. They recorded all of this in their pumpkin math books.
I brought in a food scale to weigh the pumpkin. I wasn't going to carry a full-size scale on my walk to school! It worked just fine since we had a little 2.7 lb pumpkin!
Next, it was time to cut open the pumpkin! I cut off the top, which sort of freaked the kids out because I used a huge knife (don't worry, I made sure they were not anywhere near it, not to mention it wasn't that sharp.) While I was cutting, I passed around a paper for everyone to guess the number of seeds.
Each child had to reach their hand into the pumpkin and pull out some of the seeds. Some of them were very reluctant to do this, but I told them it was mandatory. Everybody has to get their hand in icky pumpkin goop sometime! It is part of childhood. No getting around it in my class :)
After we pulled all the icky seeds out, it was time to start counting! They counted out ten seeds on each little pumpkin.
We had a LOT of seeds in our little pumpkin! 487 to be exact!
I was not expecting quite this many seeds! It was a little high for some of my kiddos to count! It was also a little too much for some of the pages in my pumpkin math book. I think next year I will just have them record the amount of seeds that they counted, not the total amount.
We counted the seeds by 10's, so we practiced writing those numbers too (no, I did not make them write all the way to 487!) They did okay until they got to 100 and then they didn't know what to do, so I wrote the numbers on the board for them to copy. We're still learning!
To tie in some science, we tested to see if our pumpkin would sink or float when placed in a tub of water. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of this :( It was pretty amusing to see because we had already scooped out all of the seeds when we did this activity. It looked like a little pumpkin boat! (I forgot we were supposed to do this before we cut it open! Oops!) Most of the kids guessed it would sink because it was heavy, but it actually floated! They drew a picture in their pumpkin math books to show what happened.
After we had our fill of pumpkin math (not really because they would have gone on forever, I just ran out of ideas) I took the pumpkin and seeds home. I baked the seeds in the oven so they could taste them the next day. Here is the recipe I used if you are interested in doing this as well. (I used the same cooking method, but only seasoned with olive oil, salt, and pepper.) The kids loved them!
I also baked the pumpkin so we would have pumpkin puree. It was super easy! Cut the pumpkin in half. Place it on a baking sheet cut side down and cover with foil. Place in a 350 degree oven until fork tender (1 to 1.5 hours). Let it cool slightly and you can scoop the inside right off the shell!
You may be wondering what I did with this pumpkin puree! I took it back to school and used it to make pumpkin chocolate chip bread with the kids! My amazing boss had all of the other ingredients on hand at school. I spread it all out on a tablecloth on the carpet in my classroom.
I read through the recipe and let the kiddos help measure some items out. They also got to help with the mixer, which was a little nerve racking. I was afraid one of them was going to lift it out of the bowl and get batter all over me! It all went smoothly, and we had delicious bread for afternoon snack! They were definitely fans of the bread, and so was I! Here is the recipe if you want to try it!
Afterwards I had the kids write/draw a "how to" piece to tell how we made the bread. They were allowed to write about something else you can make with a pumpkin if they preferred. One student chose to write directions for making pumpkin pie. I found this one really amusing! See if you can figure out why.
Kids are so funny! If only it could be that simple! It would be a really healthy pie that way!
We finished off our pumpkin unit with a trip to the pumpkin patch today. Some of them got excited when they saw a green pumpkin in the sea of orange. "Look, a green one! It isn't ready yet!" I am glad to see that they remember the pumpkin life cycle I taught them!
All of the pages used in the pumpkin math book are available at my TpT store, or you can just click here! Have a great weekend! If you are looking for something to do, make some pumpkin bread! It is absolutely delicious!
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