October Pumpkin Project for Grades 6-12

By Jess Winn, NIU STEAM Educator

I’m Jess Winn, and I like to call my series of blogs Winning Ideas! This episode’s winning idea? Pumpkins aren’t just for little kids! Keep reading for a fun way to bring fall hands-on activities into your secondary classroom.

I’m so excited that spooky season is officially here! (Fall for everyone else.) We’re experiencing the final days of harvest festivals, the temperature is dropping, there is talk of pumpkin carving and costumes, and students are starting to feel the itch for a new project. We have all experienced that! We start our school year off, things start feeling like they are in a flow, and then we look for ways to enhance our student’s academic experience.

Many secondary educators really dig into curriculum, pushing through the massive list of standards outlined by the state boards of education. Yet sometimes we push so hard we forget that there is so much joy to be had in offering students a new way to access learning. So, take a sip of that pumpkin spice and let’s dig in!

We have all seen the videos of elementary teachers with their cute projects, but why can’t we do those at the upper levels? Consider the experiment where you have a pumpkin – let’s say it’s a small pie pumpkin – and you allow the class to carve a face in the pumpkin. If you leave the pumpkin with its seeds in a sealed glass jar with about 3-4 inches of soil, that you have carefully misted before you sealed…what conversations could that spark surrounding your topic?

Could your students draft short stories regarding the fate of your pumpkin friend? Could you discuss the historical ramifications of food cultivation? Maybe, you, as a class, are gathering data and charting the changes over time, as well as explaining to your class the process of decay and the energy cycles that exist. Or better yet, you are creating a formula using the math you are teaching in class to predict, based on research, the amount of time it will take to sprout new pumpkins.

The options to bring fun projects into your classroom are there, they are valuable, and they tie in with your curriculum. I know the overwhelming stress of ensuring your students are prepared to score well on standardized tests is looming, but you might be surprised – a little fun in your classroom can spark a lifelong passion for learning. It can lead to deeper conversations, and it can grow a connection where one did not originally exist.

So go forth and experiment with your pumpkins! You will grow not only a wealth of interactive knowledge, but also pumpkin starts for each one of your students to take home and grow.

Necessary Materials

1. Small Pie Pumpkin with its seeds still intact.
2. Knife or other carving tool.
3. Large Glass Jar with a tight-fitting lid.
4. Soil, 3-4 inches in the bottom of your jar.
5. Water.
6. Tape, preferably one that seals well like duct tape.

Instructions

1. Carefully carve a face in your pumpkin. Be sure the seeds stay mostly inside the pumpkin throughout the process.
2. Add about 3-4 inches of soil to the bottom of your jar.
3. Moisten your soil so it is decently damp but not wet or soggy.
4. Gently place your pumpkin on top of the soil.
5. Seal the jar with tape. This is to contain the mold spores – because it will mold!
6. Set it in a place with plenty of light, but where it will not be jostled around too much.
7. Observe and create!

Lesson Suggestions

• Math – Formula for a sprouting date. Research about how long it takes to grow pumpkins and build a formula out from there. You can even go back in and calculate your error.
• Math/Science – Data collection on the phases of decay and development. Collect qualitative data about the pumpkin’s appearance, convert that into usable numerical data and graph your results: appearance (normal, molded, fully decayed, sprouts) vs. number of days.
• Science – A discussion point in energy cycles. Also, an experiment in decay rates and reasons for decay. (You can do multiple pumpkins with different environments to test efficacy of fertilizers, requirements for decay, etc.)
• English/Language Arts – Create a short story surrounding the fate of the pumpkin king (or queen). Discuss thematical elements, grammar and spelling, creation of a fiction world, and other plot-based content.
• History – Discuss the idea of food cultivation, genetic modifications, and impacts of food cultivation on the western world.

Don’t forget to share your projects with us! Tag #NIUSTEAM and @NIUSTEAM for a chance to be featured in our weekly newsletter. Do good things, be good people, and make yourself better than the day before.