Science
Standards:
SC.K.N.1.1 Collaborate with a partner to collect information.
SC.K.N.1.2 Make observations of the natural world and know that they are
collected using the five senses.
SC.K.N.1.3 Keep records as appropriate—such as pictorial records—of
investigations conducted.
SC.K.N.1.4 Observe and create a visual representation of an object which
includes its major features.
SC.K.N.1.5 Recognize that learning can come from careful
Lessons for unit:
Question: What words can we use to describe pumpkins?
Question: How can we classify pumpkins?
Question: Which lasts longer – a carved pumpkin or a pumpkin that is not
carved?
Question: How can we use our 5 senses to learn more about pumpkins?
Question: Is a pumpkin a fruit or vegetable?
Question : How do pumpkins grow?
Extension Activity:
Question: Does a pumpkin sink or float?
Materials for unit:
Pumpkins (various sizes, shapes, and colors)
Gourds
Chart paper
Apples – cut pieces, seeds,
Paper plates
container to hold cut up pumpkin
pumpkin seeds
small cups of some kind to plant seeds
soil
Question: What words can we use to describe pumpkins?
Engage :
 Place one tiny pumpkin on each table. Pass out a plain piece of paper to teach
child. Ask the children to draw a picture of the pumpkin and write what
they know about it. Give students about 10 minutes to write. Encourage
them to label if they want to as well.
 Bring students to the floor and begin making a KWL chart from their
responses. Once you are finished with the “what they know” section, tell
students to brainstorm what they want to know or “wonder” about pumpkins.
Next to each “wondering”, have the class come up with ways to find out
these answers. For example – if they want to know how pumpkins grow –
they could grow some in class. If they want to know how many kinds of
pumpkins there are then they could decide to research the info.
Explore:
 Discuss how one thing that good scientists do it describe their observations.
Talk about how initially they looked at a pumpkin and thought about what
they knew. One thing that we need to do is use descriptive words to help us
learn about different types of pumpkins.
 Divide the students into groups, depending on the number of pumpkins that
you have. Partners of two are the ideal size. Give each group a pumpkin, a
white board and marker. Encourage each group to write as many words as
they can think of that describe their pumpkin. Encourage them to use words
different from the ones that you have already have listed.
Explain:
 Gather the students back in the meeting area and invite each group to come
to the front and say one word that describes their pumpkin. Write some of
the words on a Vocabulary Word Wall chart that could be shaped like a
pumpkin. Encourage them to use a word that no one else has said.
 Tell them that as scientists we can use describing words to learn about the
world around us. Choose one pumpkin. Discuss ways that you could describe
the pumpkin such as, small, dark orange, 5 ribs, no stem, smooth.... Show
them how these words will help us learn about pumpkins throughout our unit.
Extend:
Give children a gourd and have them describe it in their science journals.
Evaluate:
Informal observations
Question: How can we classify pumpkins?
Engage:
 Show students pictures of a variety of vegetables. Ask them to find one
thing they notice about some of the pictures.
Explore
 Divide the class into small groups and give each group 4-5 pumpkins. Have
students decide one way to sort the pumpkins from what observations they
are making. Encourage them to use the describing words from the prior
lesson (rough, smooth, heavy, light, big, little, orange). Have students see if
they can come up with more than one way to sort them. .
 After you have had the class divide the pumpkins by several different
characteristics, give each child the worksheet that follows.
Explain
 Bring students to the floor and choose some students to share what their
observations were and how they sorted them. Gather all of the pumpkins on
a table in front of the class. Choose students to come up and sort the
pumpkins based on their descriptive words they did in group. Discuss ways
that you could classify the pumpkins, such as: stems, no stems, bumps, no
bumps. With each characteristic, divide the pumpkins into groups.

When you are finished sorting in multiple ways – invite students to tell you
what they learned as a scientist today.
Extend:
Give each group of students a mix of pumpkins and gourds. Have them sort them by
describable features.
Evaluate:
Informal observations
Question: Which lasts longer – a carved pumpkin or a pumpkin that is not
carved?
Engage:
 Show the students two apples. Take on apple and cut it in half in front of
the kids. Ask them what they think will happen to each apple if it sits out
for an hour. (Make sure you put the cut apple in a plastic bag and leave it
there until the next day.) Make a chart of what they think will happen.
Explore
 Ask students to find a way that they can find out which lasts longer – a
carved pumpkin or a pumpkin that has not been carved (you can use a pumpkin
that you have carved in class from a previous lesson.)
 Give students time to work with a group to come up with an inquiry that will
answer their question. Bring them back to the floor to review their ideas.
If they are unable to come up with a plan on their own, lead them in the
direction you want for the lesson.
 Then invite the students predict what they think the carved pumpkin will
look like and what they think the uncarved pumpkin will look like over time.
 Begin by putting the carved pumpkin outside away from the school so
students can observe it over time. (You can of course, keep the carved
pumpkin inside your room. However, if you put it outside, it will decay faster
so there will be more to observe and you may even get bugs!) Place the
uncarved pumpkin in a cool place in your classroom
 Use the following observation sheet to encourage the students to draw what
they see each time you observe both the carved and uncarved pumpkins
Explain:
The reasons a carved pumpkin decays or rots sooner than an uncarved pumpkin
are:
* Other organisms (fungi, bacteria, protozoans, insects, etc) can now enter easily and steal the stored up high
energy molecules of the pumpkin. This process is called rotting.
* Oxygen can easily enter and cause oxidation.
* Dehydration will begin when the pumpkin is carved. Low humidity.
* Light can now enter as well as dust and other particles.
Extend:
Give students the opportunity to compare other fruit that is cut versus uncut and
allow them to make observations.
Evaluate:
Use student sheets of daily observations.
Question: How can we use our 5 senses to learn more about pumpkins?
Engage:
 Mystery Bag -Put a piece of cut up pumpkin in a brown bag. Allow each child
to stick their hand in the bag without being able to look inside the bag.
When everyone has had a chance to “feel” the Mystery Bag, make a list of
what they felt.
Explore
 Tell students that today is about learning about pumpkins by using our 5
senses. Good scientists only learn by exploration and that is why we are
good scientists.
 Have students gather around to watch as you cut open the pumpkin. Make
sure you are putting pieces on different plates so that students can look at
them in groups. Encourage students to work together as they learn and
discuss the pumpkin.
 Show students how to record their findings on the 5 senses sheet.
Explain
 When students are done, you can gather them back to discuss what
observations were made. Ask students to talk about how they use multiple
senses when making observations. Explain how our senses work together a
lot of the time. Discuss how we use our all our senses to learn about food –
not just by tasting. Explain that our sense of smell also helps us taste our
food.
See website below
Extend:
Apples and Pumpkins lesson
Evaluate:
Informal observations
http://kidshealth.org/kid/body/nose_SW.html
A big batch of cookies coming out of the oven. Your gym bag full of dirty clothes. How do you smell these smells and thousands
more? It's your nose, of course.
Your nose lets you smell and it's a big part of why you are able to taste things. The nose is also the main gate to the respiratory system,
your body's system for breathing. Let's be nosy and find out some more about the nose.
Nose Parts
The nose has two holes called nostrils. The nostrils and the nasal passages are separated by a wall called the septum (say: sep-tum).
Deep inside your nose, close to your skull, your septum is made of very thin pieces of bone.
Closer to the tip of your nose, the septum is made of cartilage (say: kar-tul-ij), which is flexible material that's firmer than skin or
muscle. It's not as hard as bone, and if you push on the tip of your nose, you can feel how wiggly it is.
Behind your nose, in the middle of your face, is a space called the nasal cavity. It connects with the back of the throat. The nasal
cavity is separated from the inside of your mouth by the palate (roof of your mouth).
Getting the Air in There
When you inhale air through your nostrils, the air enters the nasal passages and travels into your nasal cavity. The air then passes
down the back of your throat into the trachea (say: tray-kee-uh), or windpipe, on its way to the
lungs.
Your nose is also a two-way street. When you exhale the old air from your lungs, the nose is the main way for the air to leave your
body. But your nose is more than a passageway for air. The nose also warms, moistens, and filters the air before it goes to the lungs.
The inside of your nose is lined with a moist, thin layer of tissue called a mucous membrane (say: myoo-kus mem-brayne). This
membrane warms up the air and moistens it. The mucous membrane makes mucus, that sticky stuff in your nose you might call snot.
Mucus captures dust, germs, and other small particles that could irritate your lungs. If you look inside your nose, you will also see
hairs that can trap large particles, like dirt or pollen.
If something does get trapped in there, you can probably guess what happens next. You sneeze. Sneezes can send those unwelcome
particles speeding out of your nose at 100 mph!
Further back in your nose are even smaller hairs called cilia (say: sill-ee-uh) that you can see only with a microscope. The cilia move
back and forth to move the mucus out of the sinuses and back of the nose. Cilia can also be found lining the air passages, where they
help move mucus out of the lungs.
Sniff, Sniff, Take a Whiff
The nose allows you to make scents of what's going on in the world around you. Just as your eyes give you information by seeing and
your ears help you out by hearing, the nose lets you figure out what's happening by smelling. It does this with help from many parts
hidden deep inside your nasal cavity and head.
Up on the roof of the nasal cavity (the space behind your nose) is the olfactory epithelium (say: al-fak-tuh-ree eh-puh-thee-lee-um).
Olfactory is a fancy word that has to do with smelling. The olfactory epithelium contains special receptors that are sensitive to odor
molecules that travel through the air.
These receptors are very small — there are at least 10 million of them in your nose! There are hundreds of different odor receptors,
each with the ability to sense certain odor molecules. Research has shown that an odor can stimulate several different kinds of
receptors. The brain interprets the combination of receptors to recognize any one of about 10,000 different smells.
When the smell receptors are stimulated, signals travel along the olfactory nerve to the olfactory bulb. The olfactory bulb is
underneath the front of your brain just above the nasal cavity. Signals are sent from the olfactory bulb to other parts of the brain to be
interpreted as a smell you may recognize, like apple pie fresh from the oven. Yum!
Identifying smells is your brain's way of telling you about your environment. Have you ever smelled your toast burning? In an instant,
your brain interpreted the smell and a problem and you knew to check on your toast.
You learned to associate a certain smell with burning and now your brain remembers that smell so you recognize it. Your sense of
smell also can help you keep safe. For example, it can warn you not to eat something that smells rotten or help you detect smoke
before you see a fire.
Tastes Great!
Most people just think of the tongue when they think about taste. But you couldn't taste anything without some help from the nose!
The ability to smell and taste go together because odors from foods allow us to taste more fully.
Take a bite of food and think about how it tastes. Then pinch your nose and take another bite. Notice the difference? It's just another
reason to appreciate your knockout of a nose!
Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD
Date reviewed: March 2007
Question: Is a pumpkin a fruit or vegetable?
Engage:
 Begin by showing the students a picture of the two different flowers.
 Have students describe something they know about each of the flowers and
how they are alike or different
- mark the similarity or difference on a venn diagram on the board
 Allow students to guess what type of plants these are. You may have to give
some clues.
Explore:
 Tell students that today they are going to get to be real scientists.
Begin by showing the students the plate of apples and the plate of pumpkin.
Discuss how they will use their five senses to learn more about a pumpkin by
comparing it to an apple. Show students how to use the venn diagram to record
their findings.
Explain:
 Have students come to the floor and share what they found.
Discuss how all fruit has seeds. That is how we distinguish fruit from
vegetables. Help students to conclude that pumpkins are a fruit as well
because they have seeds.
http://vegetablegardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/fruit_or_vegetable_
Extend:
Encourage kids to find fruits and vegetables that they have in their own home.
Make a T – chart of them.
Evaluate:
See attached
(make sure you have covered each of these items prior to assessment) You can
even have a sample of each item on hand.
Fruit or Vegetable?
Pumpkin, fruit or vegetable? Tomato, fruit or vegetable? Difference between fruit and vegetable revealed
Is a pumpkin fruit or vegetable? Tomato fruit or vegetable? Do you know? Find this amazing nutrition fact herein: the difference
between fruit and vegetable.
Is it a fruit or vegetable? Pumpkin, fruit or vegetable? Tomato, fruit or vegetable? To determine the difference between fruit and
vegetable (which has troubled minds since there were such terms as vegetable and fruit,) let’s examine what makes a fruit a fruit and
what makes a vegetable a vegetable.
Here is the definition of fruit:
“The term fruit has different meanings depending on context. In botany, a fruit is the ripened ovary—together with seeds—of a
flowering plant. In many species, the fruit incorporates the ripened ovary and surrounding tissues. Fruits are the means by which
flowering plants disseminate seeds. In cuisine, when discussing fruit as food, the term usually refers to just those plant fruits that are
sweet and fleshy, examples of which include plum, apple and orange. However, a great many common vegetables, as well as nuts and
grains, are the fruit of the plant species they come from. No one terminology really fits the enormous variety that is found among plant
fruits. Botanical terminology for fruits is inexact and will remain so.” (Wikipedia.org)
Are we clear now? Or are you just more confused? Don’t feel bad; many others are confused too. Here is what Science Bob has to
say about this question: Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?
Answer: “To really figure out if a tomato is a fruit or vegetable, you need to know what makes a fruit a fruit, and a vegetable a
vegetable. The big question to ask is, DOES IT HAVE SEEDS?
If the answer is yes, then technically, you have a FRUIT. This, of course, makes your tomato a fruit. It also makes cucumbers, squash,
green beans and walnuts all fruits as well. VEGETABLES such as, radishes, celery, carrots, and lettuce do NOT have seeds (that are
part of what we eat) and so they are grouped as vegetables.”
By these definitions, a pumpkin is a fruit, botanically speaking. So are squash and zucchini.
Modern society commonly refers to all these fruits as vegetables:

Pumpkin

Squash

Tomato

Cucumbers

Green beans

Capsicum peppers

Bell peppers
The definition of vegetable:
“Vegetable is a culinary term. Its definition has no scientific value and is somewhat arbitrary and subjective. All parts of
herbaceous plants eaten as food by humans, whole or in part, are generally considered vegetables. Mushrooms, though
belonging to the biological kingdom, fungi, are also commonly considered vegetables…Since ‘vegetable’ is not a botanical term,
there is no contradiction in referring to a plant part as a fruit while also being considered a vegetable. Given this general rule of
thumb, vegetables can include leaves (lettuce), stems (asparagus), roots (carrots), flowers (broccoli), bulbs (garlic), seeds (peas
and beans) and of course the botanical fruits like cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, and capsicums.” (Wikipedia.org)
Read more: http://vegetablegardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/fruit_or_vegetable_#ixzz0RhKQHjL1
Question : How do pumpkins grow?
Engage:
Re-read Pumpkins Pumpkins.
Explore:
 Tell students that we have been learning so much about pumpkins but in
order for us to understand how they grow, we need to experience it. We
have learned that pumpkins are fruit and they grow from the seeds that
inside the pumpkin. Ask students to share what they can do to learn about
how pumpkins grow in our classroom.
 Then explain that we are going to plant our own pumpkin seeds and watch
them grow. Each child will have the opportunity to plant his/her seed. Allow
them to plant their seeds individually without any help. Have them write
down the steps they completed on the attached worksheet.
 Allow students to decide where he/she wants to keep their individual plant.
Have them write down where they put it and why they chose that spot in the
room.
Explain:
 Come back to the floor and call on each student to share where he/she is
growing their pumpkin seed. Ask students to describe what he/she knows
about how plants grow.
 Review the life cycle of a pumpkin with the kids.
Extension:
Have kids find the life cycle of another fruit as a home project. Allow them to
present it to the class.
Evaluate:
Have students draw and write the life cycle of a pumpkin.
Pumpkin Life Cycle Song (Tune: "You get a line & I'll get a pole, honey" tune)
Together let's go plant a seed, in dirt
Together let's go plant a seed, in dirt
Together let's go plant a seed,
soon we'll have a sprout to feed,
Vines & leaves grow next, you see,
Vines & leaves grow next, you see,
Vines & leaves grow next, you see,
they start a flower for you & me,
That flower hides a pumpkin green,
That flower hides a pumpkin green,
That flower hides a pumpkin green,
LOOK closely or it won't be seen,
To turn bright orange it won't take long,
To turn bright orange it won't take long,
To turn bright orange it won't take long, and
that's the end of my pumpkin song,
Extention Activity
Question: Does a pumpkin sink or float?
Material:
Big tub of water
Pumpkins of various sizes
Different items from around the room (stapler, marker, paper clip, etc)
Gourds or squashes
Vocabulary:
Sink – to go to the bottom
Float- to rest on the surface
Before beginning, make a T-chart, as shown below.
Engage:

Tell students that today we are going to make predictions about
whether a pumpkin will sink or float. Pose the question, “Does a
pumpkin sink or float?” Encourage each child to put his name or
picture on the side of the chart that describes what he thinks will
happen if you put a pumpkin in water. Ask students to explain their
answers.
Explore:
 After all of the children have made a prediction, put a small pumpkin
in a tub of water and check to see if the pumpkin sinks or floats (it
floats!)
 Does a larger pumpkin sink or float? After you try the first small
pumpkin, give the children a chance to change their prediction on the
t-graph for a larger pumpkin. Ask the children if they think a larger
or heavier pumpkin will sink or float. Put the pumpkin in the water and
see what happens (it floats!)
 Continue to try other pumpkins until the class comes to the conclusion
that all of the pumpkins float.
 If you have other pumpkin relatives such as squashes and gourds, see
if they sink or float, giving the children a chance to change their
prediction each time on the t-graph.
Explain:
Bring the students back together to have them discuss their findings.
Encourage each student to write about their pumpkin investigation in their
Science Journal.
For further discussion on why the pumpkin floats, refer to the following
pages, Ask a Scientist.
Evaluate:
see attached
Extend – Children will go home and find one item they think will sink and one
item that will float. Have children bring items in if possible. Have the class
predict what will happen to the items. Find the answers as a class and see
how close they were.
Ask A Scientist
General Science
Archive
Floating Pumpkins
2002025
name
status
age
Mrs. Cox's First Grade
educator
30s
Question We recently predicted and tested whether our pumpkins
would
float. The students have many explanations. They wanted to ask an
expert: "Why did all of our pumpkins float?"
-----------------------------------------------Mrs. Cox's First Grade Class
An object floats if its mass is less than the mass of the water it
displaces when it is placed on the surface. So, for example, an
aluminum
"boat" floats, but an identical piece of aluminum foil crumpled up,
sinks.
This is Archimedes' Principle.
The pumpkin floats because its mass is less than the mass of water it
displaces. This is due primarily because the inside of the pumpkin is
hollow. It is mostly air, which has a much lower mass than water.
In your explanation you may wish to use the term "weight" rather than
"mass"
because first graders are probably not ready to make the distinction.
Vince Calder
=========================================================
The pumpkin floats since it cannot take in water and the center can be
considered to have the density of air. Since the density of the
pumpkin skin and guts and stuff is probably close to water's density
the entire pumpkin is less dense than the water. And just like with
any other object with a lower density than water it will float on the
water. This is also why oil floats on water. It is less dense than
water.
-Darin
========================================================
Mrs. Cox,
The pumpkins floated because they displaced an amount of water equal to
their own weight. Anything will float in water if (as it sinks deeper
into the surface) it gradually comes to displace an amount of water
that is equal to its own weight. Anything that fails in this regard
will sink. For example, a brick displaces only a small amount of water
-- an amount that weighs much less than the brick. Thus, the brick
sinks. Thin persons must tread water to stay afloat. Those with much
greater bulk may be able to float without any struggle at all. The thin
person cannot displace an amount of water equal to his/her weight. The
bulkier person can.
Even though an empty ship may be quite heavy in and of itself, as it
sinks into the water it floats because it pushes out of the way an
amount of water that equals its own weight. As cargo is added to the
ship, it sinks deeper into the water -- thus displacing a weight of
water equal to the weight of the cargo.
You can illustrate this (Archimedes') principle for your class by
making a small boat and floating it in a small pan of water, and adding
weights to the boat. As a boat, an empty tuna can works well. and a
little sand is convenient as a source of weight. Just do not pour the
sand down the drain afterward.
Place the "boat" on the water, then mark the water level on the side of
the pan. You'll note that the water level in the pan rises as you add
things (weights) to the boat. This happens because the cargo weight is
pushing the boat deeper into the water. In turn, the water level in the
pan will rise.
Regards,
ProfHoff 397
========================================================
Dear Mrs. Cox's First Grade Class,
One word: Density! Your pumpkins were less dense than the water.
Density is the mass of an object divided by its volume (d=m/v). The
density of water is 1 g per cubic centimeter (or 1 g per milliliter).
If something is more dense than 1 g/cc, it will sink; if it is less
than 1 g/cc, it will float. The pumpkins are fairly large, but they
have a lot of air inside of them, so they are not as dense as the
water.
Your students might enjoy testing the density of some more easily
measured objects, such as a nice square block of wood, or a square
piece of scrapmetal. They can weigh it and get its weight in grams, and
then measure it (in centimeters) and calculate its volume (Length x
width x height). From this they can calculate its density, and then
predict whether it will float or sink.
Paul Mahoney, Ph.D.
========================================================
Mrs. Cox:
If you took a balloon and blew it up and set it on top
of the water you would see that it floats. It floats
because the air inside it is not as heavy as the
water, so the water sinks and the air-filled balloon
stays on top.
If you cut open a ripe pumpkin you will see that there
is air present inside the pumpkin along with the
seeds. The pumpkin is not full of water, and it is
not full of seeds. There are some seeds, but the rest
of the space contains air and pumpkin flesh.
Because the air inside the pumpkin is not as heavy as
water, when you set the pumpkin in the water, the
pumpkin floats because of the air inside it.
If you punch a hole in the pumpkin and fill it with
water, there will no longer be air inside and the
pumpkin will now sink into the water; this would
happen because there is no air inside and so the
pumpkin with the water is at least as heavy as the
water, so it sinks into it.
Good question!
Thanks for using NEWTON!
Ric Rupnik
========================================================
Cut open a pumpkin. What is inside? Some seeds and a lot of air. You
may want to find out if a pumpkin floats or sinks if you poke a lot of
holes in it.
Richard E. Barrans Jr., Ph.D.
Assistant Director
PG Research Foundation, Darien, Illinois
========================================================
Well the simple answer is they were less dense than the water. The
more complete answer is that the pumpkin is almost the same density as
water since most of it IS water and that which is not such as the
cellulose and sugars are somewhat less dense than the water...so they
float.
Peter Faletra Ph.D.
Assistant Director
Science Education
Office of Science
Department of Energy
Vegetable Pictures