Pumpkin Chunkin'

On Halloween, we did a really cute STEM activity in the classroom. My students are used to me just popping up and saying we are going to try something new. For our Science lesson today, we watched the preview for pumpkin chunkin' on youtube that I found from my high school alma mater. Love that my high school does a whole Mythbusters science class. How cool is that? Anyway, we also visited some websites about pumpkin chunkin and how to make catapults.


We reviewed some websites about Pumpkin Chunkin'

http://www.punkinchunkin.com/

http://science.discovery.com/tv-shows/punkin-chunkin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkin_chunking


http://www.stormthecastle.com/catapult/popsiclestick-catapult.htm

http://teachingboys.net/2012/09/27/how-to-build-a-catapult-out-of-popsicle-sticks/


I then put the students in teams and gave them some materials and had them begin the process of making a popsicle stick catapult. They had to plan, draw, create, test, revise, and then be ready for pumpkin chunkin'

Materials:
Small popsicle sticks
Large popsicle sticks
Rubber bands
Water Bottles
Masking Tape
Duct Tape
Paperclips
Cardboard Boxes (I had been collecting my birchbox boxes for this activity)

Plan: They spent some time with their team talking about the catapults we had seen and how they could do that with the materials I provided.

Draw:
They had to draw the catapult and label it with the materials they would need. I gave them exactly what was listed as the materials they would need. If they needed different items they had to bring me an updated plan.


Create:
They had thirty minutes to create their catapult.

Test:
We went outside and did a test run with the catapults.

Rework:
The student then had 15 minutes to make adjustments to the catapults.

Pumpkin Chunkin':
We then went out and used our catapults to launch little candy pumpkins up the sidewalk. The students had a blast.

Writing:
The students came in and wrote about their pumpkin chunkin experience and what worked, what didn't work, and what they would do now. I think we might laugh easter eggs in the spring... so they will get to revist the catapult and put their revisions into action!


On a side note:
We aren't the only ones interested in pumpkin chunkin' apparently! This is a PTA video of a school doing some pumpkin chunkin'.

http://vimeo.com/78476466

Cupcake Wars: Day 4

Day 4: September 27^th, 2013

8:45 – 9:45 Displays for the Cupcake Wars – Advertisement, Recipe, Paragraph

9:45 – 10:15 Chromatography Display

10:15 – 11:00 Writing Assignment: Narrative/Informational on Cupcake Experience

11:00-– 11:45  LEAP Time Activities: Math Games Bakery Style
Smart Exchange

11:45 – 12:15  Art Assignment: Cupcake Art – Manila Paper

1:00 – 2:00 Guest Speaker: Bakery Owner ~ Simply Cupcakes  ~ Ms. June

2:00 – 2:15 Cupcake War Guest Judges: Dr. Brantley, Ms. Conner, Mrs. Kendrick, Mrs. Jan Jacobsen

2:15 – 2:30 Celebration Time: Sharing our cupcakes with the other third grade classes

2:30 – 3:30 Who sent the Cake? Science Mystery. Scientific Method & Experiment

Created by Science For Kids
 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Who-Sent-the-Cake-Using-Science-to-Solve-a-Mystery-431770
 

Cupcake Wars: Day 3

Day 3: September 20^th, 2013

8:45 – 9:45 Baking Cupcakes and Making Frosting – Preparing for the day

9:30– 10:15 Tour of School Cafeteria to experience a large kitchen and prep area. 

                    Interview with Ms. Ross the cafeteria manager.

                    Edmodo question posted to forum.

10:15 – 10:45 Have your Cake and Eat it to Inferring Activity (Partner Activity- Creativity Activity) 
Created by Christina Bainbridge 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Have-Your-Cake-and-Inference-Too-a-Crazy-Cake-Inference-Activity-714689

10:45 – 11:15 Recipes for Chocolates

http://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/chocolate-decorations-for-desserts/
 

Exploring the Website for The Secret Chocolatier –
http://www.thesecretchocolatier.com/

Making Chocolates & Decorations for Desserts – Record in Folder

Preparing for Guest Speaker: Questions

11:15 – 12:15   Looking through Cupcake Books, Creating your Advertisement for Cupcakery – On Manila Paper http://goo.gl/04NAxF

1:00 – 2:00 Guest Speaker: Bakery Owner ~ Cheryl ~ Smallcakes

2:00 – 3:00   Making Chocolate Designs & Decorations, Decorating Cupcakes

3:00 -3:30 Writing Assignment: Compare & Contrast Smallcakes & Wilson’s Bakery

Cupcake Wars: Day 2

The students were so excited to come to school and see that we were still doing the Cupcake Wars. They didn't want to go to specials. They wanted to get started with the day. So, that is exactly what we did. We got right to work! They pulled out their purple folders and we were off to the Selph'ish' Delights Bakery!

Day 2: September 13^th, 2013

8:45 – 9:45 Literature: We started by reviewing the Bake Shop Ghost trailer on youtube.com
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6OrSYgs7VQ

Then we actually read the book.  In the book, the main character says she will only go away and stop haunting the bakery if the new baker can bake her a cake like she would make. So the students and I stopped here and we did a Design  a Cake Activity. We shared our cakes and then we finished the book. It was a wonderful activity.

9:45 – 10:45 Animoto: Cupcakes Video: I made some animoto videos to go with each day of our cupcake experience. I showed one each of the four days as a kind of agenda of all the exciting things that we had to look forward to for the day. The kids loved them! We even sent the invitations to the cupcake wars through animoto.

                     Record: Making Frosting ~  Recipes into Notebooks
We looked at some simple frosting recipes on Wilton.com and added them to our purple folders.

         Introduction to Frosting Tips & Designs 

We then took a trip through all of the pictures I had collected of decorated cupcakes (there are millions out there). I choose pictures that would show how different cupcake tips were used and what our cupcakes might look like when we finish these activities.

10:45 – 11:45 Making & Baking Cupcakes & Frosting Tips Activity

We then got into our groups and made cupcake batter and frosting. We also prepped the decorating bags with the four main types of decorating tips. We baked the cupcakes super fast in the Babycakes cupcake maker. The students loved using it because it was so fast. On average, it was nine minutes to a perfect cupcake.  

BabyCakes Cupcake Maker 

11:45 – 12:15 Social Studies Lesson on Resources: Natural, Human, Capital, & Entrepreneurship

I did a quick lesson on the three types of resources every entrepreneur has to be aware of in order to run a successful business. The students created questions that had to do with the three resources and entrepreneurship. Each student came up with two questions and wrote them on index cards.

1:00 – 2:00 Guest Speaker: Bakery Owner ~ Wendy Wilson from Wilson’s Bakery 

2:00 – 3:00 Decorating Practice & Cupcake Decorating

We practiced decorating our cupcakes while we watched an episode of Cupcake Wars on youtube. 

3:00 -3:30 Clean Up & Ticket out the door writing assignment – In Notebook

The students had to reflect in their purple folders about something they already knew about cupcakes, something new they had learned, and something they were still hoping to learn. They then wrote about something they loved about Wendy Wilson's visit and made her thank you cards.