It’s a widespread misunderstanding that pumpkins are vegetables, and there’s actually a good explanation for it.
In many cuisines worldwide, pumpkins are treated as vegetables and included in savory dishes since they aren’t as overly sweet as other fruits.
Since they grow from flowers and contain seeds, they are classified as fruits botanically, regardless of what culinary experts might claim.
Pumpkins grow from tiny fruits attached to flowers which grow off long vines.
Pumpkin plants have really long vines
Not all pumpkins are orange!
Have you ever seen a pumpkin in a color other than orange, like green or blue? And if you have, have you ever wondered why they aren’t more common?
The color of a pumpkin is determined by its genetic makeup. Through natural or artificial cross-breeding and hybridization, pumpkins can come in a variety of colors, including red, white, orange, yellow, or bluish-grey, often with mottled or speckled stripes.
It’s not easy to come across these exotic colors in most markets since they’re rare and highly sought after. If you do spot them, make sure to get your parents’ permission before buying, as they can be quite pricey.
Almost all parts of a pumpkin are edible
People eat pumpkin shells, seeds, flesh, and flowers. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, and pumpkin muffins are popular items made from pumpkin.
Pumpkins are native to North America
Recent studies suggest that pumpkins first originated in North America, particularly in northeastern Mexico and the southern United States, with the oldest pumpkin seeds discovered in Mexico.
Many people carve pumpkins into Jack-O-Lanterns for Halloween.
Carving pumpkins on Halloween was an old Irish tradition.
Have you ever thought of jack-o-lanterns being made from anything other than pumpkins? Hard to imagine, right? Surprisingly, carving pumpkins is a fairly recent tradition. According to an old Irish folk tale, Stingy Jack was a cunning man who tried to trick the Devil for his own benefit. After his death, he was denied entry to both heaven and hell, leaving him to wander the earth and haunt people. To keep Jack away, the Irish began carving demonic faces into turnips. When they immigrated to America, they switched to pumpkins, which were native, larger, and easier to carve.
Some people compete to grow ‘Giant Pumpkins.’ The largest Giants can weigh more than 2000 pounds, close to what a small car weighs.
Other people build machines to throw pumpkins in pumpkin chunking contests. The team with the machine that throws the pumpkin farthest wins.
Print out this page. As you do the assignments, write down the day that you completed each assignment. This will be your attendance record. Also, you can use this to record your scores. Parents, please see the lesson index for more important notes. Remember if any links don’t work, leave a detailed comment in the comments and I will fix it as soon as possible.
Monday
Math
Notes:
This course uses Khan Academy. If you have not done so already, please create a free account.
Please be sure to take notes on important points. Write down some of the sample problems in your notes.
There will be practice worksheets for you to keep for your records.
Read the first chapter on Characteristics of Living Organisms. Before you can use this site, you will need to register. Ask a parent to help you create a username and password.
This online textbook does not teach that God created the world in six days. It will speak of millions of years. You aren’t expected to take that as fact. You won’t be learning about this, but it mentions evolution, the hypothesis that all living things came from a single-cell organism that mutated and changed and developed into something else. That’s why people call primates our ancestors. They say they changed little by little until they became human. It takes a lot more faith to believe amazing things like DNA and the human eye were made by accident than to believe our incredible world was designed. I call it a hypothesis because it has never been observed happening and therefore cannot be called scientific theory, let alone fact.
Watch the video on the introduction to the characteristics of life. You can also watch this cell video. You can jump 40 seconds into it. You don’t need to know all these words, but it’s kind of fascinating watching it all work. It can give you some images in your mind for when you are learning about these things.
Answer the review questions 1-5 in your notebook. That’s where you stopped reading.
STUDY TIP: Go to the end and read the questions first. That way you can be looking for the answers while you read. It will make it easier for you if you will just take an extra minute to look at the questions before the reading.
Social Studies
Watch animation about the Growth of the Nation for review and preview. You can click on the box in the corner to watch it full screen.
Language Arts: A combination of reading, writing, and grammar.
Reading:
You will be reading Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
While reading if you come across any words that you don’t know, write them down and look them up in a dictionary.
Write down in your notebook:
a list of characters. add to this list every time there is new character mentioned.
a summary of what you read.
Study the vocabulary words.
Superintended: Supervised or overseen. Leghorn: A type of dried plaited wheat straw fabric or a hat made of such material. Seminary: A private residential school for girls. Sententiously: Concisely or pithily. Hair Trunk: A trunk covered with animal skin with the hair still attached. Genteel: Refined or excessively polite.
Writing
Later in the school year there will be cursive handwriting assignments. If you would like to get ahead start here is a cursive handwriting chart. You could laminate this chart and write and wipe.
We’ll learn about cells later, but you should remember that everything in your body is made up of cells. Each cell is about 70% water, so what atoms do you know are present in your cells? (answer: hydrogen and oxygen –H20)
Read about skin. You should have created a free account yesterday.
While reading if you come across any words that you don’t know, write them down and look them up in a dictionary.
Write a summary of this chapter.
Study the vocabulary words
Spinster: A woman who has never been married, especially one past the typical marrying age according to social traditions. Votary: Someone who is devoted to a particular pursuit etc; an enthusiast. Muses: One of the nine Ancient Greek deities of the arts. Plucky: Having or showing courage or spirit in trying circumstances. Dauntless: Invulnerable to fear or intimidation. Brood: The children in one family. Foreshadow: To suggest or hint at something in advance.
Spelling
How are your spelling skills? Place the vowel combination in the correct coconut to make a word. Choose the hard level.
Internet Safety Reminders: Do not download anything onto your computer without permission. Do not click on any advertising on a website even if it looks like a game to play.
Print out this page. As you do the assignments, write down the day that you completed each assignment. This will be your attendance record. Science and Social Studies are only done 3 days a week.
Have the child cut and paste the correct body parts
Review the scripture.
Social Studies
Would you like to take a 100 day adventure of American history? Travel through books from the time when Squanto was a boy and the time shortly before the Pilgrims arrived through the late 1800’s and the turn of the century! Click on the link to download a list of books recommended for use during the 100 days as well as coordinating notebook pages!
Preparing to journey with us on a 100 day adventure of American history? Travel through books with us from the time when Squanto was a boy and the time shortly before the Pilgrims arrived through the late 1800’s and the turn of the century!
On the 3rd page of the link is a list of books recommended for use during the 100 days. However, please feel free to substitute as needed.
All books should be read to the child.
On the 4th page starts the day-by-day lesson plan. You will be doing about 3 days per week.
Five Senses – The Kiboomers Kids Learning Songs For Circle Time – Body Parts Song (note: any video that is on YouTube, as long as you are logged in to YouTube on both devices, you can start the video on one device and then watch it on the other device. You do this by starting the video for example on the computer and then looking under history on YouTube on the television you should find it.)
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