Pumpkins

With the trip to the pumpkin patch quickly approaching the students have become intrigued with pumpkins. So yesterday I decided to investigate what they actually already knew about pumpkins. Here is some of their background knowledge:

Pumpkins start out as a seed.

There is a vine that they grow on and the vine is on the ground, not in a tree.

Pumpkins can turn into a Jack-o-Lantern.

Pumpkins come in different shapes, colours and sizes.

There are seeds inside the pumpkin.

Your Mom can make good things to eat with pumpkins, like pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pie and pumpkin scones.

Next, I decided to take it one step further to see what the students "wondered about Pumpkins".

I wonder....

Do all pumpkins grow on a vine?

How do they turn into a Jack-o-Lantern?

How do the seeds get into a pumpkin?

What is the stuff inside the pumpkin and what is it good for?

How do pumpkins change from the seed to the pumpkin?

What is the biggest pumpkin?

Why do pumpkins only grow in the fall?

When does the farmer plant the pumpkin?

Can you plant the seeds from inside the pumpkin and will they grow into a pumpkin?

What makes some pumpkins different colours?

I think we will start learning about pumpkins this week and continue into the next week. Hopefully we will be able to find out many answers to the students "I wonders". 

Children at this young age experience difficulty distinguishing between a statement/comment and a question. However, if you ask young children what they wonder about they have no difficulty creating a question.