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Gemma Mangino

Professor Gray

ECE 251 – 3001

November 21, 2017

Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan

Activity Name: Pumpkins

Approximate Length of Experience: 35 minutes

Age and Number of Children: 24 seven-to-eight-year-olds

Goal: To become aware and describe different physical traits pumpkins have.

Domain: Cognitive

Content:

• Fact: How heavy is a pumpkin?

• Vocabulary: Growth, weight, size, tiny, large

• Fact: What type of pumpkins are there?

• Vocabulary: Skin, carve, shape, texture, curves, color, size, edible

Objectives: Participation in this activity will increase the child’s ability to

1. Name different visible aspects pumpkins have.

2. Identify the diverse weights that different pumpkins are.

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3. Be able to describe the differences between two different pumpkins.

Materials: A variety of pumpkins in color, texture, size, shape, and weight (Baby boo pumpkin,

green fairytale pumpkin, watery goblin pumpkin, classic orange pumpkin), and scales.

Procedure: Begin the lesson by asking “Who knows what a pumpkin looks like?” If no

response, include simple observation explanations such as “Some may be round, some may be

big or small, and they may be different colors.” Then ask the students, “Does anyone know how

heavy a pumpkin is?”

Next, have children partner up and hand out a scale and two different pumpkins to each pair of

students. Then ask the following questions:

• “Can you tell your partner what each pumpkin looks like?” (Evaluative)

• “What similarities and differences do you see with the pumpkins you were given?”

(Evaluative)

• “What is the weight of each pumpkin after weighing them?” (Convergent)

Then have the students find a different pair of students to compare their answers and ask

the following questions:

• “What are the weights of each pumpkin you weighed compared to your classmate’s

pumpkins?” (Convergent)

• “Does each pumpkin look the same?” (Evaluative)

Extension: If there is still time available ask this question: “Now that you’ve all weighed your

own pumpkins and compared with some of your classmates, which pumpkin appeared to be the

heaviest?” (Memory)
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Simplification: Before the activity, give clear steps and instructions on how to use the scale and

then provide a few examples of weighing different small objects. Also, provide examples of

some physical adjectives of some pumpkins that may be challenging to describe.

Evaluation: Teacher’s observation of student’s participation and collaborative conversations

during the group activity.

What Next: If students found this activity interesting and are able to describe the external

differences in a variety of pumpkins then the next lesson will be on the internal parts of a

pumpkin, i.e. (Are pumpkins hollow?)

Evaluation of the appropriateness of the category (type) of questions used: In my opinion, I

did use a good category and topic that is appropriate for children to expand their cognitive

knowledge. However, I do believe that my questions could have been more in-depth for their

understanding of the differences pumpkins have. For example, I could have asked more

questions that required more memory recall during the activity. Also, some of my questions

could have been more challenging to encourage a better analysis of the pumpkins. For instance, I

could have included more of the five senses during this activity such as touch and smell. I also

could have asked questions recalling previous experiences students may have had with

pumpkins. Such as where they’ve seen them, or what they’ve done with them. Another thing I

could have done to encourage more cognitive development in this activity was to acknowledge

and go over the weight of each different pumpkin that was being experimentally observed and

weighed by the students.