Many of you will remember our previous blog post from December 5th. We put a rather large pumpkin on some potting soil in a pot on the playground. Here’s a picture from that post.
We hypothesized (made guesses) about what would happen to the pumpkin.
Today, I asked some children what they thought had happened to the pumpkin. I said that I was pretty sure it had changed. They had some ideas about what might have happened.
“It turned pink.” “No, silver.” “I think it would be great if it had sparkles.”
Can you tell I was talking to a group of girls? I am confident the ideas would have been very different if I had asked a group of boys.
We went outside to check our predictions.
It really had changed. Sadly it was not now pink, silver or sparkly.
While outside, we had several boys join the investigation. The children described this pumpkin as “smooshy,” “like squishy cake,” “flat and bumpy.” We again made predictions of what would now happen to the pumpkin. Someone thought “it might turn into a frog.” Another child said, “no, maybe a stick.” Hmmmm, I am afraid they may be disappointed in the outcome but I suppose scientist through the years have faced some disappointments.
I love watching children investigate things. If we allow them the necessary time, they will ponder things for quite a while. I can almost see those brain neurons firing and making connections. I love that the children wanted to touch it. They even took off their gloves so they could really feel it. We often talk about how important hands on experience is for children. Today it really was!
Keep watching. We will do more important pumpkin investigating this spring!
Aldersgate Preschool 