October 30

Pumpkins

Pumpkins can be studied through Thanksgiving, so it’s not too late to try some of these investigations.

There are many ways to integrate math standards with your study of pumpkins. Estimate the weight of your pumpkin(s), then weigh them on a scale. What is the circumference of the pumpkin? Wrap a piece of yarn around the middle and lay it beside a yard stick to find out. Of course, you can estimate and then count the seeds. Place them in groups of ten. How many ribs (lines) are on the rind? Do all pumpkins have the same number?

If you are not going to carve a small pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern, cut it in half, so you can easily observe the pulp, fibrous strands, and seeds inside.

Learn more about this fruit full screen here.

Watch full screen here.

After observing your pumpkins (carved or not), leave them outside in a natural area through the winter months to see what happens. Make predictions. Pumpkin Jack and Mousekin’s Golden House both explore this part of the life cycle.

Watch full screen here.

Watch this descriptive woodland story full screen here.

Enjoy Too Many Pumpkins, a science inspired fiction book, full screen here. This story is a great springboard for cooking with pumpkins. I like making pumpkin pancakes with children. Watch the liquid batter become a solid and observe the solid butter on your pancakes melt into a liquid. So, heat turns one into a solid and the other a liquid. Why?