Pumpkin Seed Science and Limo Ride

The count is in!  We grouped the pumpkin seeds into groups of 10 and counted them all together.  We documented by showing a tally mark for every 100 seeds.  

 And the grand total is............

*557*

Can you believe there were that many seeds in that big pumpkin?  I guessed 350, which was the closest guess.  Maesyn predicted 190, which was the closest for a student. 

While we were counting the seeds there was a "burning question" the students came up with.  They were perplexed by the question of: "What is actually on the inside of a pumpkin seed?"  There are a lot of great things about Project Based learning in that the students have the power to guide their learning.  Mrs. Garrabrant and I set up an opportunity for the children to explore the  pumpkin seeds.  First, like a scientist we made a prediction.  We asked, "What do you think is on the inside of a pumpkin seed?"  Some of the predictions included: a tree, a seed, a leaf, a sprout, and  a plant.  We drew a picture of what we predicted.  Later, after we had written our predictions, we began to dissect the pumpkin seed.  We used magnifying glasses to look carefully at the outside of the seed.  Some of us had to use scissors to help us open the "hull" of the seed.  Some of us were able to open it all on our own.  Take a look at our investigations.

Can you tell that taking the hull off the seed was a little tough?

Once we learned about the "hull" we watched this video.  This video displays a lima bean rather than a pumpkin seed, but you can still see the bean loosing it's skin.  The students were able to make the connection.  

Watch the video by clicking on the link below.  

Seed Time lapse

We then documented what the hull/shell and seed looked like. 

 Finally we glued our evidence onto our document.  These documents will be put into each child's exploration journal. 

When we completed our investigations we talked about how hard it must be to shell a lot of pumpkin seeds.  We looked at some different foods and snacks that include shelled pumpkin seeds.  We watched this video of a machine in a factory and how it shells the seeds.  

Click on the link below.

Pumpkin Seed Shelling Machine

 On another note...

One of our friends sold enough coupon books to take a ride in a limo.  They drove several groups to McDonald's to have lunch.  Andrew had a great time!

Andrew said they even got to drink Orange Juice in the Limo!

Don't forget that this week we have conferences and we are having a family picnic and scavenger hunt at Cox Arboretum on Saturday.  Tomorrow I will be sending home information regarding both.  Please bring your child to conferences at their scheduled time.  The scavenger hunt on Saturday is at 12:00PM.  I hope you had a wonderful weekend and look forward to meeting with all of you this week at conferences.  

Take care and have an amazing week.  

Mrs. Julie Atkin