 |
| Here is one of our pumpkins |
In October, the children made observations about pumpkins using their senses. They predicted whether the small and big pumpkin would float or sink in water. They helped find a way to make our big pumpkin float.
Here are the children observations before carving two of our big pumpkins:
It's orange - Roberto
It has a stem - Rose
It smells like seeds - Eva
It feels cold - Braydon
It makes a thumping sound - Miss Natalie
It's the goo inside - Ayden
It has too much seeds in it and it makes it heavy - Nia
It smells like food - Cheyank
It's something like a circle or oval. (3D shape) A sphere - Peter
It's a fruit because it has seeds - Mme Maklin
What can we do with pumpkins (connections)?
We can cut it - Eva
We can cut it for Halloween - Elena
Make a pumpkin face - Isidore
Cut the gooey part into pumpkin pie - Clara
We can put it out for Halloween - Lola
Can paint it - Faith-Lynn
Eat pumpkin cookies - Jolian
Unfortunately when we came to carve our two big pumpkins, we noticed that they had started to rot. We asked the SK to make observations about our pumpkins. Here are their answers to some questions we asked:
Why do you think there are black spots inside the pumpkin?
Growing - Nia
Rotting - Roberto
Gone bad - Rose
Been out too long - Clara
They are old - Isidore
Dirty - Jane
Old, dirty - Faith -Lynn
Going bad - Kianna
What is inside the pumpkin?
Seeds- Roberto
Juice - Rachel and Roberto
Goo - Rachel and Roberto
Seeds, strings - Rose
Pumpkin and seeds - Clara
Seeds and water - Isidore
Dirty - Jane
Seeds - Kianna
Dirty water - Faith-Lynn
What does it smell like?
Oranges - Jolian
Bad - Nia and Roberto
Stinky - Nia
Pumpkin soup - Clara
Yuck - Isidore
Pumpkin pie - Jane
Pumpkin - Kianna
Seeds- Faith-Lynn
We got more pumpkins...
Before carving a new pumpkin, we asked the children to make a prediction of what they would find inside it.
Elena - Even goo inside that.
Rose - Strings
Elena - No, there won't be strings - goo and seeds.
After carving the new pumpkin, we asked the children to make observations using their senses.
Smell
Faith-Lynn- Smells like goo.
Elena - It smells bad.
Alex - It smells like cheese.
Amelia - It smells like seeds.
Rowyn - A pumpkin.
Malikye - It smells stinky.
Shaurya - I don't like the smell.
Cheyank - It smells like toast.
Peter - It smells yucky.
Roberto - This one smells better than the other one.
Ibrahim - It smells orange.
Christian - It smells yucky.
Touch
Faith-Lynn - Gooey
Rose - Slippery
Elena - It doesn't feel soft.
Adrianna - Feels like soft.
Malikye - It feels soft.
Shaurya - It feels like a pumpkin.
Cheyank - It feels like India, because it's cut.
Peter - It feels like goo.
Nia - It feels like a yucky smoothie that my mommy gives me.
Ibrahim - It feels orange.
Evelena - I don't eat like that. It feels like a sandwich.
Sabrina - (feels) dirty.
Sight
Daksha - I don't like that thing (pumpkin soup). It looks like pumpkin soup.
Peter - It looks like poo.
Christian - I see some goo.
We decided to test the floatability of two small pumpkins, one being bigger than the other one. We asked the children to look at one of the pumpkin and predict if it would sink or float in our bowl of water. Some children drew and wrote their prediction...
Est-ce que la petite citrouille va flotter ou couler?
 |
| Roberto predicted that the small pumpkin would float (flotter). |
Est-ce que la grosse citrouille va flotter ou couler?
 |
| Faith-Lynn predicted that the big pumpkin would sink (couler). |
... others answered a survey done by Nia and Jane.
After, putting the pumpkin in water, we discovered that the little pumpkin floated and big pumpkin sank. Roberto explained that the big one sank because it is "heavier" and the Clara said the small one was "lighter". The next day, we extended this activity by asking the children "How can we get the big pumpkin to float?" Here are what they thought we could do:
Put the pumpkin on a boat. - Cheyank
Put the pumpkin in bigger water. - Nia
Build a boat out of plastic (change to pencils after). - Peter
Cut it to make it lighter. - Jolian
Cut in little pieces to make it smaller. - Ayden
You have to cut it to make it float. - Eva
Make something like a boat. - Rose
Cut it up. - Jane
Cut it up small. - Lola
Build a boat. - Rachel
Cut it up. - Kianna
Make a big boat out of sails. - Ibrahim
 |
| Peter made a boat using pencils. |
 |
| Lola, Rose, Clara and Rachel made a boat using plastic containers, |
We wanted to see if the pumpkin would float on Peter's boat and Rose, Lola, Rachel and Clara's boat, with the addition of the extra water in the bowl. Both boats sank with the pumpkin. Peter explained why it sank a second time: "The pumpkin makes the boat heavier than the water".
Several students thought cutting the pumpkin into small pieces would make it float. Ayden is explained that by cutting the pumpkin it makes it lighter.
On Friday before Halloween, we had a discussion on "How we can be safe on Halloween".
Here is a list of the safety rules the children and us developed together:
- Do not run across the street. Walk one side of the street then the other.
- Go with your Mom or Dad. Only go with another adult, brother or sister if your have permission from your parents.
- Ask to cross the street.
- Listen to your parents.
- Look both ways before crossing the street.
- Bring a flashlight.
- Wear reflective materials so cars can see you.
- Ask Mom and Dad to check your candies before eating them.
