This thematic unit integrates cross-curricular learning throughout each lesson. Arts education, ELA, mathematics, social studies, and treaty outcomes are all addressed within the unit. Each lesson leaves space for inquiry-based learning as students make observations and generate questions.
Invitation to play
Dramatic play center – Pumpkin Cafe
The cafe and pumpkin patch provided students the opportunity to engage with imaginative and cooperative play, numeracy, and literacy. Students were also able to explore the difference between the real and artificial pumpkins. Students made observations throughout the unit as to how the characteristics of the real pumpkins changed over time.
Lesson 1 – Pumpkin Characteristics
An anchor chart begins the unit by activating prior knowledge about pumpkins by asking students what they know about how pumpkins look and what they can do. Students worked in pairs to describe and measure their pumpkins and recorded their findings on their exploration worksheets. This hands-on activity encouraged communication and teamwork, while incorporating outcomes from the art, ELA, mathematics, and science curriculums.
Lesson 2 – Inside a Pumpkin
The lesson begins by learning about all the parts of a pumpkin, including fancy science words like “fibrous strands”. Students use their senses to explore the inside of the pumpkin. We discussed what we saw, what the pumpkin felt like, smelt like, and even sounded like. Students then drew a picture of what they observed. Students helped to separate the seeds from the fibrous strands, and the seeds were used in a later math lesson.
Lesson 3 – Taste Test
Students were presented with pumpkin rind, pumpkin puree, pumpkin seeds, and pumpkin waffles. As a group, we used our senses to explore each item. We discussed what each item smelled like, looked like, the texture, and whether it was hard or soft. Students were then invited to taste each item and record their feelings about that food by colouring a happy, neutral, or sad face. Once the class had completed the taste test, we compiled the results onto a large graph. We then counted and compared the number of stickers in each column; which had more/less, most/fewest. We also discussed how not everyone in the class agreed, and that everyone is unique.
Lesson 4 – Pumpkin Math
After reading How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin by Margaret McNamara, students formed a hypothesis as to how many seeds they thought were in our pumpkin. Using ten frames, students worked as a class to count all the seeds they had removed from the pumpkin in lesson 2. We compared the number of seeds we counted to our guesses and decided if there were more or fewer seeds than we thought. Students then practiced creating AB, AAB, or ABC colour patterns.
Lesson 5 – Life cycle
After introducing the concept of a life cycle, students watched a time-lapse video of a pumpkin growing from seed to fruit. They made observations about how the plant and the pumpkin change as they grow. The Medicine Wheel displayed in the classroom is a great location to display the different stages in the life cycle as each section of the wheel corresponds to a stage in life. A class discussion was held surrounding how plants and people require many of the same things to live, and how we are all connected to Mother Earth. Students then practiced their cutting and pencil grip skills by completing a pumpkin life cycle worksheet.
Lesson plan
Lesson 6 – Decomposition
Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell does a great job of depicting the decomposition of a pumpkin. While reading, students identified changes they saw in Jack as he rotted. After reading, students were asked to retell the changes Jack went through in the story. We learned how mold is a living thing and requires the same things as people to live and grow. Using pieces of pumpkin from lesson 2, students made observations about what the pumpkin rind looked, felt, and smelled like. They drew a picture of what they observed and with the help of a scribe, recorded words they would use to describe the pumpkin. The pumpkin rind was then sealed in a jar and set in a sunny spot in the classroom. Two weeks later, the jars were opened and students repeated this process, noting how the pumpkin had changed while sitting in the sun.
Learning Story
