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The Brown Bag Teacher

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Earth Day Recycling Demonstration: From Pumpkin Science to Compost

Adopting the Next Generation Science Standards, our school is moving toward a 5E Model for Science Instruction . Although I am not all-in right now, I am trying to slowly transition my thinking and teaching to this model. As a teacher, this has meant listening to my students’ thinking about the world and asking a lot of ‘whys’ behind everyday things – why do leaves change color? and most recently, “What happens to our trash?” and “Why should I recycle?” Here enters – Pumpkin Science!
Today I wanted to share a real-life demonstration that addresses the last two questions. It’s a demonstration I learned about when student teaching, and it’s a powerful one. Granted, it’s definitely a long-term demonstration (we buried our pumpkin in October and will dig it up in April) but I don’t mind if my 1st graders know that sometimes science takes a LONG time. Our students live in an ‘immediate’ world, and teaching them perseverance isn’t a bad thing!

Exploring Pumpkins

The day before we started our demonstration our classes had taken the time to explore pumpkins with our University Students. Our 1st graders had opened pumpkins, gutted them explored their parts, and even tasted their roasted seeds. We saved pumpkins from the prior afternoon and used them for our longer-term recycling demonstration!

Counting the Seeds

Number charts and place value pieces are the ideal for scaffolding students in the counting of HUNDREDS of seeds. Once the 100s charts are full, students grab the matching place value pieces, and then each group puts their place value pieces in a plastic baggie. Finally during small groups, we order/compare the amounts of seeds from each pumpkin!

Filling Our Pumpkins

Before lunch, Kara and I (I partnered with another 1st grade classroom) asked our classes to save a few pieces of trash. As we picked-up our classes, we collected the trash in a ziploc bag and kept it there until later in the day. Once our classes joined together, we decided together what to put in our pumpkin. In our pumpkin we put a plastic drinking straw, an aluminum can, a PB&J wrapped, plastic wrap, a granola bar wrapped, vegetables (cherry tomatoes and cucumbers), and an ice-cream wrapper. We wanted a variety of materials (metal, paper, plastic, organic) to ensure that our demonstration works!

Burying Our Pumpkins

After filling our pumpkin with our lunch trash, our classes went out to one of the fields near our school. Kara and I had dug a hole the evening before (which I would highly advise because digging a hole with 50 sets of eyes watching sounds like a disaster…also we made digging a hole more difficult than it needed to be – ha!). We walked out to the hole and then, we placed the pumpkin in the hole and we took turns filling in the hole. If the area were not a muddy mess and if it had not been raining, I would definitely have had the students help fill the hole!
We placed a small flag in the ground, so we know where to dig in April. We also took lots of pictures, so if the flag is moved down or blown away, we will still know where to dig.

Writing About Our Predictions

Returning to the classroom, we made predictions about what we would find when we dig the pumpkin up in April (on Earth Day). I gave students the sentence stem “When we dig up our pumpkin, I think…” and I expected them to finish the sentence and add a detail. Then, students added an illustration to match.

While I considered making a graphic organizer/handout for the activity, I did not want the responsibilities of keeping up with 23 sheets of paper until April…so our writing journals were the perfect sport for recording our ideas! (If you’re brave and want to keep a piece of paper for 6 months, you can snag these recording sheets.)

Before digging-up our pumpkin in April, we will revisit our predictions beforehand and then, write write/diagram our observations afterward. By April, we will be confidently writing paragraphs, so we will turn our learning into paragraphs. Students will have the choice of writing argumentative paragraphs about the importance of reducing waste and working to convince others to care for our Earth and/or inform/explain paragraphs about what happens to our trash.

Right now, I know the lesson was fairly “random”…and it is! We have not talked about protecting the Earth yet, so it seemed like a “just-because” lesson. As we learn more about caring for the Earth and as Earth Day approaches, this demonstration will come to life.

Digging Up Our “Pumpkin”

When we dig up the pumpkin in April, the pumpkin is ‘gone’ as will the vegetables inside the pumpkin, while the Diet Coke can, the drinking straw, and all the other inorganic materials are still be there! There are cheers of “Dig deeper!” and students are incredulous that the pumpkin has disappeared. Where could it have gone??

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Pumpkin Jack 

Pumpkin Jack is a perfect literature companion to this activity. BUT don’t read the entire book or you will spoil the magic of the demonstration. I like to read the first few pages of Pumpkin Jack and then read the rest in April (Earth Day) to help explain the science behind the magic.

A Slides Overview

Are you at a school where you can’t dig outside to bury a pumpkin? Not in school on Earth Day? No worries! Here is a quick Google Slides presentation for you to share with you class. It even includes a SciShowKids video at the end!

It is the perfect opportunity to give students a real lesson on why reducing and recycling waste actually matters and what really happens to the trash we throw out! Our classes cannot wait for Earth Day (only 6 months away) to arrive so we can see the fruits of our labor. Until then, happy digging friends!

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  4. Monica Rigamonti says

    Hi there….

    I did this activity today and the kids absolutely LOVED it. I dug the hole before school like you suggested. The kids loved helping to add back the dirt and mulch. We had such good conversation about what they think will happen to the pumpkin and all the trash. They are very excited for April to come! Of course, I did tell them that if we have a lot of snow still on the ground then we will have to wait a little longer! Thanks for posting this blog/experiment. It was a lot of fun and although it wasn’t something that I had to teach, it was well worth it!!!!

    Reply

  5. DeAnne Dow says

    What an excellent way to teach the students about recycling! Unsure if we would be allowed to bury this at school. Outside anyways!

    Reply

  6. john says

    Well done. This is a great way to show students how important it is to properly dispose of waste. Even with this pumpkin, you gave an example for students what happens to organic food and non-organic waste. I really hope that after this experiment they will be more concerned with the environment.

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  7. Sharon says

    Thank you so much for sharing this fabulous resource that you’ve created. I look forward to showing it to my class.

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    I love how this blog connects real-world activities like composting and pumpkin science to classroom learning it makes Earth Day meaningful for students! Speaking of pumpkins and the season, if anyone’s looking for a stylish Halloween Jacket, check out Oskar Jacket for unique designs.

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  17. Sophia says

    This is such a clever and impactful idea, transforming an ordinary pumpkin into a powerful visual lesson in decomposition and recycling. It blends science, curiosity, and environmental awareness in a way students will never forget!

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