Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:
Fall is here, and it's all things pumpkin over at my house. Take this theme into your classroom with these 5 STEM pumpkin-themed activities. I am getting in the mood for fall in this episode, and I am wearing the only orange shirt that I have in my closet, and it is a jack-o'-lantern shirt. So, if you're watching the video version of this podcast, you can check out the shirt that I found at Target 1 year ago.
Naomi Meredith [00:01:00]:
And you guys know I love a good theme and that it really involves teaching my whole k through 5 STEM year-long plan where every month has its own theme and tool that it's working on. But there are also times when I have liked to add in those themed seasonal activities, and the kids like it, too. So, it's fun to mix these things into your lesson plans. And also they can also make great backup sub plans if you can't seem to find out where to fit it in. So I saw over on Instagram the other day. It was a funny video. This guy was making something called a boo basket, where it's a basket of things for your wife that have to do with fall. And you said, dudes, if you're making this fall basket for your wife or your girlfriend, whoever, you have to figure out if she is a fall girly or a Halloween girly.
Naomi Meredith [00:01:58]:
There is a difference between the two, and you might even be laughing out loud because I did. And I'm, Oh, I'm a fall girly because I feel like with fall decorations. These are things that you can keep up from September through November. And you just add in those little pops September through November, and you just add in those little pops of Halloween when you want. I have a few little pops of Halloween and Dia de los Muertos because my teacher honey is a Spanish teacher, so he likes those little things as well. I do have these skeletons that are taking a selfie, which is super cute. And I do have some other skeleton pieces and all that. But I really go for the fall vibes in terms of what I have going on in my decor.
Naomi Meredith [00:02:44]:
The same is true for these STEM activities, these pumpkin activities, you can do these from September through November, and it will work at any time during those months, and it won't exclude anybody or isolate anything when it comes to specific holidays, and pop them in when you need a little bit of refresh in your classroom. So let's get into these fun 5 pumpkin-themed stem activities. Most of the lessons that I am going to be talking about I have them all bundled up together in a pumpkin-themed bundle. So you can check that out in my tpt shop, Naomi Meredith, or check it out in the show notes. Some of the things I don't have an official lesson plan for, so I'll mention that along the way, and just maybe there will be something one day. You never know. Sometimes, I just like to create ideas and think of them, and then you guys can just run with it. The first activity is pumpkin life cycle coding.
Naomi Meredith [00:03:41]:
All you need for this is the robots that your students will code with for their grade level and the pumpkin life cycle cards. This is a great way to really learn any type of life cycle. And there are a few variations that they could play with this. I recommend when you are using robots, have a grid where each of the grid spaces is measured so that the robot can travel to each space within one forward movement. So you do have to do some playing around with this to figure out the grid if you don't wanna purchase 1. I do have, separate from the pumpkin bundle, for most popular robots that you use in your classroom, some editable squares that are already perfectly measured, and they can cut those out and everything. But have a mat for your robots, and then you have the cards that go along with the life cycle of a pumpkin, and students can code their robot to go in order of those things. You can add in other fun variations, like a matching game or a memory game.
Naomi Meredith [00:04:44]:
You can add in dice where they have the code to a specific part. So there are lots of different variations. I have that included in that lesson plan ready to go. But another way to think about that s, science, and stem and add in that element of coding. The second activity is pumpkin digital activities. And I have 2 different variations because if you're teaching all the grades, you need a lot of different things to make sure you're hitting all those standards and have those age-appropriate activities. For k through 2, my students really, really liked this one, and they added it in as a STEM station for one of the stations they could attend to.
Naomi Meredith [00:05:25]:
But for K and 2, I had this pumpkin digital activity where every slide had something different to accomplish. It had a lot of different cross-curricular connections and even audio of me reading the directions. I created a version for Seesaw, also Google Slides, and PowerPoint. It's the same exact thing. My preference is Seesaw. You guys know that is one of my favorite tools, but the activity slides are really fun because they stay on that slide. They can listen to the directions being read to them, and then they can independently or even with a partner complete those activities, such as measuring the pumpkin vine with Unifix cubes, digital Unifix cubes, and see how long it is creating a pumpkin face using the different shapes. There's even a chance to match the letters to spell different words that are related to pumpkins and even labeling a pumpkin digitally.
Naomi Meredith [00:06:23]:
The kids really liked it. They felt excited about each of the activities, and they wanted to have me make a lot more of them. Though. This is something that I really enjoy doing as a stem station. Likewise, you could do this as a stem station or even something that students can go to throughout the week if they finish a project, but have for 2nd through 5th grade, a pumpkin digital interactive notebook. It has the same kind of vibes as the kindergarten version or the primary version, but of course, activities that are more at their level. So compare and contrast. What do you notice in this picture, looking at a graph and finding out data and things that they notice about the graph?
Naomi Meredith [00:07:06]:
So, again, this could be something that they can get to throughout the week. It doesn't have to be your day lesson. It can be if you have classes on a holiday. You know, students can be a little bit crazy if you're having classroom parties, and when they come into specials, you might need a more chill activity. I would do these digital interactive notebooks all the time when I was a 3rd-grade teacher and had them themed and related to the topic. And, again, this is something that they could get to if we finish the other projects or, like, as a may do thing like a fast finisher. So that is something that you can add to your curriculum. The next activity is to design a spooky pumpkin.
Naomi Meredith [00:07:47]:
This is something I don't currently have in my shop, but maybe sometime in the future. But using Lego bricks or if you have even some LEGO education kits like LEGO We Do 2.0. I know that kit is discontinued, but is still an excellent, excellent kit. Or maybe you have the upgraded, the newer versions like the Lego Spike essential kit. Students can create a spooky pumpkin, and using the motion sensor, they can code the pumpkin to make a sound. And this is a lot like when you see the decorations that you move past, and as soon as you move past that decoration, then it freaks you out. It makes you really scared. Oftentimes, those are turned on in stores, and you're like, oh my gosh, it's this, like, decoration is alive.
Naomi Meredith [00:08:38]:
So, the same kind of vibes and students can create that. And in the LEGO We Do Kit, the pieces aren't exactly orange. There are more orange pieces in the LEGO spike essential, but you get the idea, and they can get creative with that project. The next activity is building pumpkin bridges. This is something that you can go through the entire engineering design process, or if you wanna pair it down and feed through some of the steps, you could also do with this in one day. The goal for this challenge is for students are creating a bridge to hold as many pumpkins as possible. You can use a lot of different things for the bridges, such as pumpkin candies or unifix cubes, or maybe students have to make their own bridges, but this is a fun one that, again, you can stretch out as long as you want. Go through it fast and see the different types of bridges students come up with, and you can even talk about the engineering of bridges as an architecture piece.
Naomi Meredith [00:09:40]:
This is in the bundle that has everything laid out for you. And the last STEM activity is a 7 stories reading, how many seeds are in a pumpkin. This is something that I did again as a classroom teacher, but you could do this as a STEM teacher. And I had some kids donate pumpkins that they had or went and grabbed a pumpkin. And we had a few different pumpkins in the room, and we did different experiments and things that involve math with these pumpkins. So first we tested things like Do you think the pumpkin is going to sink or float? Why do you think that's going to happen? What is the outside like how many ridges are on the outside of the pumpkin, what does the pumpkin feel like, how many unifix cubes tall or you can even add in measuring with inches and centimeters. Students can even compare the data if you have multiple pumpkins in your classroom. And then students also had to guess how many seeds were in their pumpkin.
Naomi Meredith [00:10:41]:
And we did open the pumpkins up. And students scooped out the seeds. We had butcher paper all over. The students were on the floor, and they had to determine the best way to count all of the seeds in their pumpkin. And the great way of using butcher paper for this activity is that students can actually put the seeds in equal groups, they can draw, they can label, it does get a bit messy. So if you don't like messes, don't do this one. But it is a lot of fun for them to think about carving a pumpkin in a different way. Maybe some of your students have never done this before.
Naomi Meredith [00:11:16]:
You never know. You will definitely find out when you have them open up the pumpkin, and so are just another great way to get hands-on and make it a fun math activity. As a recap, here are the 5 pumpkin-themed STEM activities that you can use in your classroom. 1st is pumpkin life cycle coding. Next is pumpkin digital activities. 3rd, are creating a spooky pumpkin out of Lego bricks. 4th is designing a pumpkin bridge, and 5th is that STEM and stories connection, how many seeds are in a pumpkin, and dissect those pumpkins. Most of these lessons are packaged together nicely for you in a bundle so you can just grab and go and implement these in your classroom.
Naomi Meredith [00:12:01]:
You can find that in the show notes for this episode or even check it out on my TpT shop, Naomi Meredith. Thanks so much for listening, and I'll see you later, pumpkin.
