This morning Ottawa Elementary is connecting to the Liberty Science Center for their Pumpkin Circle program.

Before the program starts, as the students come in, they listened to a song about pumpkins and pumpkin seeds. In the introductory part, the presenters asked the students questions to get them thinking about pumpkins.

The presenter walks through an animation of a pumpkin plant growing in the field, and has the students identify and spell the different parts of the plant.

Next, another presenter reads the book, Pumpkin Circle, showing the pictures from the pages at the same time. She asked the students questions throughout the program: i.e. why do the seeds look different? What was your favorite part of the story?

The students then look at different types of seeds and try to identify them. The lesson also includes looking at the difference between fruits and vegetables.

In another activity, students stand up and wave like a tree or plant and consider the strength of different types of roots.

Students learn about how the pumpkin (and other vegetables) decay or compost back into good soil. Finally the students get to ask questions at the end.

This program is visually rich and full of interactive questions and discussion. The price still seems a little steep to me, compared to programs where actual hands-on materials are mailed to the school. Still, a very good program.