Pumpkin math and science

Teachers of young children are always on the lookout for topics that will interest young children and provide a multitude of opportunities for math, science, inquiry, dramatic play and art.  Pumpkins fit the bill perfectly.  The children made tops to investigate laws of motion, measured and recorded the characteristics of pumpkins, tried a little pumpkin sink and float and played a pumpkin strategy game with the big kids.  We even had our own pumpkin patch in the classroom.

Pumpkin Patch!

First there was the bus ride . . . 

then the hayride . . .

chickens to feed . . .

apples to pick . . .

radishes to pick . . .

goats to feed. . .

and finally, pumpkins to pick out.

We had a wonderful trip to the pumpkin patch.  Wild Hare Farm does a tremendous job of showing kids around a real farm with crops growing and animals to feed.  We were so lucky that the rain held off while we were there.

Global Math Project

This week was designated the week of the "Global Math Project".   Classes were encouraged
to spend an hour investigating math concepts.  The Ladybugs and Bumblebees spent
an hour working on geometry, patterning, sorting, comparing sizes of objects and
addition equations.  Our goals of making math accessible to all ages, hands on and fun were met!

Apple pie

The first thing you need for apple pie is . . . 

a peeled apple.

It takes a lot of apples to make a pie!

Then there is cutting to be done.

Then we had to taste it.  Yummy!

We measured the peels,

sometimes the peels were longer than us!

Some of the peels were more than 100 inches long!

Apple prints!

Sunflower observations

It all started with the sunflowers growing in our Seabury garden,

we put on safety glasses,

used the tweezers,

to remove the seeds.

We checked out the leaves and stems

and the occasional bug.

The Seabury garden is full of beautiful sunflowers!  What an opportunity for a scientific observation!
We observed many things about the sunflowers:  they are bright yellow to attract bees, the stems have hairs on them, caterpillars eat holes in the leaves, the seeds are soft, they are white and the leaves are pointy on the sides.  It was a good opportunity to use the same tools a scientist would and make some important observations.