Kindergarten

Pumpkin Jack

Step 1

Carved a small pie pumpkin and placed in an air tight container with damp soil

Step 2

Let the decomposing begin! What colors will Jack turn in this process?!

Step 3

Step 4

Materials Required:

pie pumpkin
soil with fertilizer
watering can
air tight container
pumpkin carving knife

Will you be able to grow a new pumpkin from an old, decomped pumpkin?!?

Steps:

carve a face into the pie pumpkin - make sure to keep all the seed and pulp in the pumpkin
fill air tight container half full with damp soil (you want to make sure there is moisture but not "puddles" as this is the only water this pumpkin will recieve)
place you pumpkin in the center of the container on top of the soil
seal the lid
leave pumpkin in a sun lit room away from heat vents where it will slowly decompose
wait for sprouts to form and then remove from container
plant back into the ground and regrow your own pumpkin!

The goal of this experiment is to see if you can re grow a pumpkin from an older pumpkin. One is always looking to be conservative and use all parts of an object wheather that is food, animals products, etc. What a better way to be financial literate and only using seeds one time to always have new pumpkins every year. This is a great, hands on experiment that students can visualize over the course of a school year. They will get to see the stages of decomposing in real life time as well as the life cycle of a pumpkin. You will be amazed how quickly mold of all sorts will take over! The end goal is for students to take the new growth from the seeds and plant back into the garden to hopefully harvest next year.

Charter Connection: Other Lessons:

Lifecycles of plants - pumpkins - Do Pumpkins sink or float?
Needs of plants - What pumpkins decompose and regrow the best?
Soil health - Comparing pumpkin life cycles to other plants and animals

Apple Seed Grenhouses

Step 1

Constructed our greenhouse

Step 2

Harvested apple seeds and placed on damp cottonballs

Step 3

Placed seeds in plastic bag and hung in window

Step 4

New apple seed sprouts!

Materials Required:

apple seeds - 3 (Gala or Granny Smith work best)
cotton ball - 3
dish with water
plastic ziplock
greenhouse template
markers or crayons to color
tape
window with good amount of sunlight

Can we grow our own apple tree?!?

Steps:

color and cut out your greenhouse
harvest three apple seeds from the inside of a freshly cut open apple
dip three cotton balls into water to dampen (do not soak)
place one apple seed in the middle of each cotton ball
place cotton balls into ziplock bag
staple ziplock bag to paper greenhouse
hang greenhouse in a well lit window and watch the transformation happen

We start off our apple unit by examining different kinds of apples. What better way to examine an apple then by tasting! We make sure to save the inside seeds from our apples as seeds are the base for any plant. What is small is also mighty! from there,s tudents get to plant their seeds and watch the apple life cycle unfold. By the end, they will have apple seed sprout that they will replant into cups and get to take home to plant in the ground to hopefully, grow their own apple tree in years to come.

Charter Connection: Other Lessons:

Lifecycles of plants - apples - buoyancy of apples
Needs of plants - what animals in our barnyard like apples

- homemade apple pies

- apple stamping (art)