Pumpkins

We set up a provocation for the students to encourage them to question and observe what we put out.

I.S.- me see yellow 

M.A- I see green pumpkin.

A.C- I see a light yellow pumpkin

H.W- (What colour?) orange

A.P- I see yellow, green and orange on the small pumpkin

They began to write about the pumpkins and share their wonders.

We set up the 'pumpkins' on the carpet for the students to observe closer. (The students think these are all pumpkins and that they maybe represent the various stages of the life cycle)

A.A- I wonder how pumpkins grow?

D.S- I wonder how do they turn different colours?

N.M- why is bigger and smaller? What is growing?

A.R-  why they have sticks?

B.G- I wonder why something on the pumpkins?

M.W- I wonder how this one got all its colours?

A.H- I think they all have stems

D.S- I know why the yellow one is not standing, it’s not heavy enough!

M.W- it is heavy!

D.S- it’s an oval!

M.W- it doesn't have enough round parts (referring to the yellow one)

D.S- because this is an oval, this one is a circle and it holds much stronger than an oval

R.H- I see the green, I see this pumpkin is always falling down, you need to hold the pumpkin so it not fall down

E.K- there the orange pumpkin is something inside! and on the bottom is a hole.

M.W- I wonder why some pumpkins are ovals and some are circles

D.M- I wonder why the green pumpkin has light green and dark green? 

One wonder that many students were asking was 'how do pumpkins grow'. We read a variety of books to learn about the life cycle. We found a song that helps us remember the different stages:

This song inspired many students to write about the pumpkin life cycle.

We will be cutting open these 'pumpkins' soon to find out what is inside! The students are very curious!