Pumpkin: Fruit or Vegetable?

This week we started a brand new unit on pumpkins. The children were very excited!

Our favourite part of the day
On Monday we played inside and went outside. 
On Tuesday we learned about pumpkins and went outside. 
On Wednesday we had centres and went outside. 
On Thursday we went to the park and we measured our pumpkin. 
On Friday we saw if a pumpkin could float and Ms. Manruka had show and tell. 

Life Cycle of a Pumpkin

We started our unit on pumpkins by learning about the life cycle. The pumpkin's life cycle begins as a seed. The seed then grows into a sprout. The sprout grows into a vine. Flowers grow on the vine and soon a green pumpkin grows there as well. The green pumpkin grows and turns orange over time. Then we get the seed from the orange pumpkin and start all over again. 

Parts of the Pumpkin

We started to learn about the parts of the pumpkin as well. We talk about the outside of the pumpkin and then cut it in half and discussed all of the parts. 

After we compared and contrasted a pumpkin with an apple. We talked about what was the same and what was different.

I was impressed by how much they knew and many got it without any hints.

Seeds!

We took the seeds from the pumpkin, after discussing the parts, and cleaned them up. We put them on a tray, added some oil and salt and then baked them for about an hour until they were golden brown. We told the children that these seeds were ok to eat and everyone tried it. Many children loved them and had third helpings. It was a very tasty treat.

YUMMY!

 Pumpkin Investigating

Just like last week with the apples, we investigated a pumpkin. We talked about colour, height, weight and length. 

Sink and Float

We talked about sinking and floating and did an experiment. The children were excited to see that some fruits and vegetables sink while others float. Have a look at our chart:

They were thrilled to discover that pumpkins....FLOAT!!

Fruits and Vegetables

While looking at the parts of a pumpkin and apple we discovered that they were the same with a stem, leaves and seeds. This brought up the topic of what makes it a fruit or a vegetable. They learned that it is a fruit if: 1) it has seeds 2) it grows on a tree, vine, bush or cane. They found this very interesting. 

After our sink and float activity we washed all of the fruit and vegetables and cut them up to see if they had seeds. We talked about whether they were fruits or vegetables. They were surprised to discover that bell peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers are all fruit. They already knew that celery, carrots and potatoes were vegetables but we discussed that it was because they grew in the ground and did not have seeds. 

They got to taste the different fruits and vegetables. Some children discovered that they liked some that they didn't like before. 

Multicultural Show and Tell

We started our Multicultural Show and Tell's this week! The teachers were the presenters. It was very cool to see where they all came from. 

Former Yugoslavia

Saskatchewan

Sri Lanka

This week was brought to you by: The letters M and N

Finally we learned about the letters M and N. We practiced writing the uppercase letters and discovered words that start with that sound. When you have a moment practice writing M and N as well as what words start with "mmm" (for "mom") or "nnn" (for "net"). Another activity could be finding different objects in the house that start with the letters/sounds that we have been learning. 

Just Because...
Last week two of our students were doing some fine motor practice and without assistance made patterns. We were so impressed!

Don't Forget:

Remember that examples of past presentations can be found on the table when you drop off or pick up your child.

If you want to volunteer for our upcoming field trip please let one of the teachers know.

Feel free to contact me anytime with any questions or concerns. I can be reached at the school, by email or just drop in (I am usually around before school).