Pumpkin Dissection in the Classroom

Have you ever cleaned out pumpkins in the classroom? Messy right? I have and I can tell you there is a better way and it can be FUN and ENGAGING without causing you to lose your mind! Our pumpkin dissection day is our favorite day of our ALL ABOUT PUMPKINS unit and has surprising benefits that last into next school year. (read all the way to the end to find out how!) 

Hate the mess? 
When I considered cleaning out pumpkins to dive a little deeper into our life cycle unit I told myself I was crazy. I thought about what our custodian would say. I pictured myself cleaning out all 6 pumpkins all by myself while the students watched. All I knew was, I DIDN'T want it to go that way so I came up with a plan. 

First......the mess. 
I stopped on my way to school and bought 6 under the bed type boxes (which I turned into storage later). Yes.....I shop on my way to school, it's the procrastinator in me. I lined each box with a large garbage bag and prayed for the best. I honestly had no idea how this was going to go the first time! I had 24 students in my class (times 2 with half day kindergarten) and 12 pumpkins to work with. Each class got to dissect 6 pumpkins so I went with nice small groups of 4 each. (now I do groups of 6....it works just as well!) 

Next.......the students. 
This was going to be all about the students experiencing the inside of the pumpkin and NOT the teacher. I have carved my fair share of pumpkins with my own children to know that the parent does all of the cleaning out and the kid takes all the glory at the end. This was not how it was going to go! I placed a pumpkin in each bin and used a knife to cut the lid. THAT'S IT....I didn't even lift the lids off, I left that to the students. 

Last......the discovery. 
I told students this was going to be their job to get their pumpkin as clean as they could. I gave each group a gallon size zip lock bag to collect their seeds in and the rest of the pulp went in the bottom of the bin. The results were amazing! Students dug right in and started working. Some did NOT like it at all so their job was to hold the bag and oversee the seed collection. There were atleast 2 in each group that were go getters and made it their life's work to make their pumpkin the cleanest in the land. We finished up by washing our hands (everyone at once, one big long line, just get it done) because I made sure to tell them we couldn't wash until the end to keep students from wandering all over the classroom with icky hands. 

Sorry for this blurry photo. They were too excited to slow down for a photo!

Here is a video of the fun! Please don't mind my inappropriate shoes for school (it was a weird dress up day) and it sounds noisy but listen to all of the learning going on! 

When we were all done we got back together and discussed their findings. Some were shocked at how slimy the inside of a pumpkin was because (shocker) they had never done this before. I guess their parents do all the work just like I did with my own kids! We looked at our bags of seeds and made a quick comparison to how many seeds each group pulled out. Every year I have the plan to cook them and use them in centers later but I have never quite made it that far. This year I will! I have grand plans of using them in crafts, counting centers, and a sensory bin. I will let you know how that goes.....

Now the last question........what to do with those empty pumpkins? 
No we don't carve jack-o-lanterns out of them although you could certainly do that. YEARS ago I actually did that with an entire class of kinders and it worked out just fine. I just made sure I had 6 parents in the room to do all the carving! This year we set our pumpkins out in our little garden boxes on our playground. We watched them change over time and it was absolutely fascinating to watch them decompose. Some of them of course had a few seeds left in them so we had the added benefit of volunteer pumpkin plants at the end of the school year. They usually don't make it just because of summer watering schedules getting interrupted but this year they made it! We have two beautiful pumpkins growing on our playground. 

When we got back to school in August they were just really starting to take off so we got to watch the entire process day by day. This year our pumpkin unit will be even more exciting! 

So that's how we dissect pumpkins in our classroom. It really is one of the best days that I am sure (well I hope) students go home and tell their parents about. Here is a link to the pumpkin unit I use in the classroom. It gives me 2 weeks of lessons using all 5 senses to explore a pumpkin. Students work their way through the journal and all of the lesson plans are included to make this a stress free way to learn ALL ABOUT PUMPKINS. 

Here is a pin to save for later!