Life Cycle of a Pumpkin

What better way to kick off Fall then a lesson on the life cycle of a pumpkin!  First, we started with a pumpkin.  The top was cut off and the students got to look inside and touch the seeds and all around inside the pumpkin.  Eww! Gross!  were some comments from the girls.  Cool!  Awesome! were some comments from the boys.  I let the students scoop the seeds out.  We talked about where those seeds had come from.  The seed was produced by the "flower" of the pumpkin.  A tiny new plant is inside each seed.  Then I told the students that the now empty pumpkin was going to be used as the planter.  We would add what all plants need, soil, into the pumpkin and plant those pumpkin seeds that they had just pulled out.  We would give our pumpkin plant water and sunlight and see what happens.  

Each day we discussed what was happening with our plant.  First, the seed split open.  Tiny roots grew down into the soil.  Then a little sprout came up out of the soil after about 5 days.  As the stem grew, leaves began to grow off of it.  These leaves make food for the pumpkin plant.  Every day our plant grew taller and had more sprouts and more leaves.  All of the stems are covered with leaves.  My class had a week out of school for Fall break, so I took it home with me to take care of.  When we came back to school and the students saw how much the plant had grown, they were AMAZED!  I told them that I would take it home and try to keep it alive in my garden.  If it stays alive, it will bloom and produce a new flower which will turn into a new pumpkin and the cycle will start all over again!  I hope it does so I can see their reactions!