Pumpkin: Fruit or Vegetable? - Ask the Kindergarteners!

Fall is in the air...especially at the Mall-ards with our room resembling a pumpkin patch. The Pumpkin Science Unit started last week and students were invited to bring in their own pumpkin. We have all sizes and weights represented which made for some great lessons on sorting and classifying. The 5 E's model is being used to plan the unit: engage, explore, explain, extend, and evaluate. We engaged the students by having them share their background knowledge and charted what they know about pumpkins and then asked them what they want to know about them. We had lessons on what "Same" and "Different" means so that students can build on a common knowledge base. In this way, they can explain what they see when they examine their pumpkins. They explained by sharing their data and extended their knowledge by making connections and then evaluated by reviewing what they had learned. In this specific lesson, students were given an apple slice and pumpkin slice. They explored then using their five senses and magnifying glasses. They noticed what was the same and different about them. They noticed that both had seeds which raised the question, "If an apple has seeds and a pumpkin has seeds, is a pumpkin a fruit like an apple?" Then we researched our question on the computer (Glogster) and found out that, "Anything that has seeds on the inside or outside is classified as a fruit." We then cut up a few items and had the children decide if it should go in the fruit or vegetable tray remembering what they have learned. So, believe it or not...a pumpkin is a fruit...just ask a kindergartener!!