The class became experts on pumpkins back at the end of October. They were living like scientists in the classroom & learning how to investigate something that they were interested in. Everyone at The Atlanta Academy knows that October is one of our FAVORITE months of the year. We (Mrs. McKenzie & myself) love love LOVE Halloween & all of the things that come with the month of October. We love to incorporate it into our daily teachings as well. Who doesn't love pumpkins?!?
To be a true scientist you have to really study whatever it is you want to learn about. We discussed with the class how you can't just glance at an object - you have to really investigate all parts of that object. We got out magnifying glasses & went to work! We used our scientist eyes & noticed all of the lines on the pumpkin. Some of us even pointed out that there were bruises or interesting bumps on our pumpkins! We didn't just look at one part of the pumpkin. We looked at all parts. That meant the stem too! We used our 5 senses & discussed with our patterns what the pumpkin looked like, smelled like, felt like, sounded like, etc. We learned how to use our adjective or describing words so that our partner really understood what we meant.
We even incorporated some of our math lessons into our investigation! The class got to measure the pumpkins using non-standard units and then they compared the two measurements with their classmates. We discussed non-standard vs. standard & watched a Sid the Science Kid video on it as well!
Their favorite part of the whole day was when we got to see if each pumpkin would sink or float. Well, a very candid & teachable moment happened during this part. We first put the smallest pumpkin in & decided if our predictions were correct or incorrect. Then.. we put the larger pumpkin in. Well, the bucket wasn't large enough to hold the water AND the pumpkin therefore I got all wet and spilled water all over the classroom which made the class erupt in laughter! They had a blast. AND we got to discuss capacity and volume because of it!! A win-win!
To be a true scientist you have to really study whatever it is you want to learn about. We discussed with the class how you can't just glance at an object - you have to really investigate all parts of that object. We got out magnifying glasses & went to work! We used our scientist eyes & noticed all of the lines on the pumpkin. Some of us even pointed out that there were bruises or interesting bumps on our pumpkins! We didn't just look at one part of the pumpkin. We looked at all parts. That meant the stem too! We used our 5 senses & discussed with our patterns what the pumpkin looked like, smelled like, felt like, sounded like, etc. We learned how to use our adjective or describing words so that our partner really understood what we meant.
We even incorporated some of our math lessons into our investigation! The class got to measure the pumpkins using non-standard units and then they compared the two measurements with their classmates. We discussed non-standard vs. standard & watched a Sid the Science Kid video on it as well!
Their favorite part of the whole day was when we got to see if each pumpkin would sink or float. Well, a very candid & teachable moment happened during this part. We first put the smallest pumpkin in & decided if our predictions were correct or incorrect. Then.. we put the larger pumpkin in. Well, the bucket wasn't large enough to hold the water AND the pumpkin therefore I got all wet and spilled water all over the classroom which made the class erupt in laughter! They had a blast. AND we got to discuss capacity and volume because of it!! A win-win!