This week we have been talking about the life cycle of a pumpkin! Yesterday morning we painted pumpkins on paper and later read the book Pumpkin, Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington. Today during Reader's Workshop I read the book Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell. The boy in the book, Tim, left his carved pumpkin "Jack" outside. Kindergarteners predicted that the pumpkin would rot, get mushy, get flat and eventually grow into a new pumpkin. After reading the book, we learned that another word for rot is decay and that when living things like apples, pumpkins and leaves decay they can either grow a new fruit or vegetable from the seeds or help trees grow with the nutrients in the soil. This video from Sid the Science Kid taught us more about what happens when things decay:
This video prompted one student to ask: what would happen if we left an apple out to decay? After eating my apple while Kindergarten was at the library I put the core it in a plastic container for Kindergarten to observe. This conversation led to questioning what would happen if we put lemon on the apple (from an experiment done in preschool) versus the apple in the open air. Kindergarten also wondered what would happen to the seeds if we cut the core, put the core in a ziploc bag so air couldn't get in too much or put the apple in water or oil. Tomorrow we will test out this experiment! Be on the lookout for change over time.
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