As part of our pumpkin unit, we adopted a green, unripe pumpkin that was just beginning to speckle orange from a late volunteer plant that popped up in my garden in August. The children spent time running their hands over it, studying it with magnifying glasses, wondering what was inside and why it was green and generally observing it. And this week the poor pumpkin has become the subject of numerous experiments Team Awesome and I have concocted. But first we guessed and measured its circumference with string, as well as guessed and graphed whether we thought pumpkins would float or not. Then we got out a large tub, filled it with water and threw the pumpkin in with other garden items from the science table. We hypothesized (made scientific guesses) and then tested some of those hypotheses- Do you think the chestnut will sink? Will the tiny pumpkin float? Why does the big pumpkin float? You can watch those activities in the video 'Pumpkin Investigations'.
Besides the unripe pumpkin, we have been watching a jack o'lantern slowly disintegrate into a pan on the counter the last few weeks. We have been amazed to see mold grow on the inside and soft spots develop on the outside. There was some black mold and some thick white/gray fuzzy kind and a few spots of a pinkish-red kind. But why was it getting moldy? How did the mold grow? Where was the mold coming from? We made some hypotheses then put the green unmoldy pumpkin under the knife. Parts of it were put into two jars. We made sure that neither jar had mold. One jar we poked holes into the lid and labeled Aerobic (with air) and the other we put a lit candle into and screwed the lid on real tight so the flame would use up all the air and we labeled it Anaerobic (without air). We predicted which jar would grow the most mold. Then we left the pumpkin to do its thing. We are also conducting some experiments Team Awesome proposed based on what they thought mold needed to grow. We will observe the aerobic/anaerobic jars for the rest of the year and compare and contrast what is happening in each jar. We will also keep a close eye on the petri dishes for the next while, possibly changing our experiments as well as hypotheses based on what happens. After all, that's what scientists do.
Besides the unripe pumpkin, we have been watching a jack o'lantern slowly disintegrate into a pan on the counter the last few weeks. We have been amazed to see mold grow on the inside and soft spots develop on the outside. There was some black mold and some thick white/gray fuzzy kind and a few spots of a pinkish-red kind. But why was it getting moldy? How did the mold grow? Where was the mold coming from? We made some hypotheses then put the green unmoldy pumpkin under the knife. Parts of it were put into two jars. We made sure that neither jar had mold. One jar we poked holes into the lid and labeled Aerobic (with air) and the other we put a lit candle into and screwed the lid on real tight so the flame would use up all the air and we labeled it Anaerobic (without air). We predicted which jar would grow the most mold. Then we left the pumpkin to do its thing. We are also conducting some experiments Team Awesome proposed based on what they thought mold needed to grow. We will observe the aerobic/anaerobic jars for the rest of the year and compare and contrast what is happening in each jar. We will also keep a close eye on the petri dishes for the next while, possibly changing our experiments as well as hypotheses based on what happens. After all, that's what scientists do.
