Outdoor Hour Challenge Autumn Series-Pumpkins

I realize we just had a pumpkin challenge, but many of you did not grow your own pumpkins during the Crop Plant Challenges. I thought we could revisit the pumpkin challenge with pumpkins you purchase at the grocery store or at a local farm.

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Autumn Series #5 Pumpkins
(Formerly Crop Plants Challenge #6)

Inside Preparation Work
Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 611-617. Make sure to highlight or underline some facts about pumpkins and also a few ideas for completing your nature study during your pumpkin time.

Outdoor Time
You can either plan a field trip to a pumpkin field to observe pumpkin plants and pumpkins or you can purchase a pumpkin at the grocery and bring it home and complete this study with a real pumpkin. You could also plan on doing both!

Follow-Up Activities
If you have a real pumpkin to observe, use the suggestions on pages 616 and 617 in the Handbook of Nature Study. Pull out your nature journals and make a colorful pumpkin entry.

Here are some additional observation suggestions for you to try with your children.
Thump your pumpkin and describe the sound.
Observe the creases on the outside of the pumpkin.
Can you tell which way your pumpkin sat on the ground when it was growing?
Cut your pumpkin open and view the seeds. Sketch the arrangement in your journal.
Are pumpkins mostly full or empty?
Observe the thickness of the pumpkin shell. Is it the same all over the pumpkin?
Carefully sketch a pumpkin seed into your journal.
Describe the feel of the pumpkin both inside and out. What is the stringy stuff for?
Describe the smell of the pumpkin inside.
Describe the taste of cooked pumpkin or the pumpkin seed after roasting.

Also try these links:
Pumpkin life cycle: http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/pdf.htm?pumpkin_lesson.pdf
Pumpkin poem for your nature journal:
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/fall/pumpkinpoem1.htm


If you purchased my Crop Plants Notebook Pages, there is a pumpkin notebook page included in that set or the one listed in the sidebar of my blog in the free downloads section.


Come back and share your pumpkin entry in Mr. Linky.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Our Outdoor Hour: Crop Plants-Pumpkin Time

From last year....fields of pumpkins not too far from our house....taken as we cruised along in the car.

Pumpkin is one of our favorite ingredients for goodies in our family. Pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin pie are all partaken of year round. We started our pumpkins at the start of the Crop Plants Challenges but although the vines look healthy, there are plenty of blossoms, I fear we will not have a pumpkin crop from our garden this year.


It is a very good thing that Grandpa has been growing pumpkins right from the start and has been sharing his plants with us as they progress.

As part of our pumpkin study, we decided to make a pumpkin pie totally from scratch. This meant a phone call to Grandpa to ask if we could have one of his pumpkins from his garden. He responded quickly, "Of course!" He even delivered it to us and we got started.


Cutting the pumpkin was done with a big knife.


The guts of the pumpkin were scooped out first with a spoon but eventually that was set aside and bare hands were used. Lots of gushing around was done, seeds spilled on the floor, and strings stuck on the counter but it was ready to be cooked. We used a baking pan and the microwave to steam the pumpkin which took about 15 minutes at high.


Afterward we us used a food mill to smash the pumpkin and measure out exactly three cups of gorgeous golden pumpkin puree.


My youngest son actually made this pie all by himself.....crust and all. He used this recipe.

It took us hours to make the pie by the time we cut the pumpkin, cleaned it out, steamed it, pureed it, mixed up the crust, mixed up the pie filling, and baked it to perfection. Was it worth it? Absolutely! My son now has a great appreciation for how much work goes into a pumpkin pie from scratch. He also learned a lot about the structure of the pumpkin. Lastly, he was so proud of his pie and dished it up for dessert with a big smile on his face.

Great job Mr. B!

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Outdoor Hour Challenge: Crop Plants-Pumpkins

It will soon be upon us...pumpkin harvest time. This week's challenge will prepare you for a great nature study that your children will really enjoy.

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Crop Plants #6
Pumpkins

Inside Preparation Work
1. Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 611-617. Make sure to highlight or underline some facts about pumpkins and also a few ideas for completing your nature study during your pumpkin time.

2. You can either plan a field trip to a pumpkin field to observe pumpkin plants and pumpkins or you can purchase a pumpkin at the grocery and bring it home and complete this study with a real pumpkin. You could also plan on doing both!

Outdoor Time (At home or during your field trip)
3. For this challenge, spend 10-15 minutes outdoors. Even if you don’t have a pumpkin plant to observe, spend this time in your own yard enjoying what you do have up close. You can compare leaves on different plants, look for vines of any kind, look for something orange like a pumpkin, sit and watch for insects, or dig a small hole and see what you can find that is interesting. The possibilities are endless.

Follow-Up Activity
4. Take a few minutes to talk about anything your child found outside that was interesting. Did they bring in something to look at with the magnifying lens? Do they have something they would like to sketch into their nature journal?

5. An idea for a nature journal this week is to sketch a pumpkin or the diagrams of the pumpkin blossoms from the Handbook of Nature Study. If you need an image of a pumpkin, do a quick Google Image search. (Preview before you share with your children.)

6. If you have a real pumpkin to observe, use the suggestions on pages 616 and 617 in the Handbook of Nature Study. (If you purchased the Crop Plants notebook pages, you will have a page to record your observations.)

Here are some journal ideas to get you started:
Sketch or describe the leaf.
Thump your pumpkin and describe the sound.
Observe the creases on the outside of the pumpkin.
Can you tell which way your pumpkin sat on the ground when it was growing?
Cut your pumpkin open and view the seeds. Sketch the arrangement in your journal.
Are pumpkins mostly full or empty?
Observe the thickness of the pumpkin shell. Is it the same all over the pumpkin?
Carefully sketch a pumpkin seed into your journal.
Describe the feel of the pumpkin both inside and out. What is the stringy stuff for?
Describe the smell of the pumpkin inside.
Describe the taste of cooked pumpkin or the pumpkin seed after roasting.
Also try these links:
Pumpkin life cycle: http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/pdf.htm?pumpkin_lesson.pdf
Pumpkin poem for your nature journal: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/fall/pumpkinpoem1.htm


New for this series of challenges are custom made notebook pages for each crop plant we will study. I have designed simple to use pages that will complement each challenge and will be an easy way to start a nature journal. Each of the eight notebook pages is in full color, but they are just as great in black and white. These notebook pages can be purchased for $2.50.

SAMPLE

As usual, you can complete the challenges without the notebook pages or you can use freebies from the top tab of my blog.