Pumpkin Investigation

Make a book describing the inside and outside of a pumpkin using the five senses and observation skills.

Objectives:

use words to describe inside and outside of the pumpkin
record descriptions on paper (in a pumpkin book)

Materials:

Pumpkin with a lid pre-cut
Cover of book – orange construction paper cut in shape of pumpkin, (or with pumpkin outline so that students may cut out.) – 1 for each student
Inside of book – 1 sheet of white paper in pumpkin shape for each student
orange yarn
pumpkin seeds (helps to have some clean dry ones from another pumpkin)
Chart that says “Inside of a Pumpkin” and “Outside of a Pumpkin” to organize descriptions

Plan:

Encourage children to talk about what they know about pumpkins: What do you think it would look like inside? Have you ever carved a pumpkin? etc.
Encourage children to use their senses to describe the outside of the pumpkin & record their reponses on the chart. What does it feel like, smell like, look like, sound like, etc.?
Then, remove the pumpkin’s lid and have the children observe & describe the inside of the pumpkin.
Give them the materials to make a pumpkin book. It only needs to have a cover and 1 page.
Have the children record the descriptions of the outside of the pumpkin on the cover.
Have them record descriptions for the inside of the pumpkin on the inside cover.
On the white inside page, they may paste pumpkin seeds and yarn, and illustrate the inside of the pumpkin using crayons, construction paper, markers, etc.