Prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, kindergarten students in Ms. Eileen Moloney's class at Giblyn Elementary School experienced a hands-on STEAM lesson creating sun shelters for Play-Doh pumpkins.
The purpose of the interactive lesson was to demonstrate why pumpkins' leaves protect them from the sun creating their orange color. This was part of a larger discovery lesson about the lifecycle of a pumpkin.
Using construction paper, Play-Doh, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, paper plates and more the students built their sun shelters and then tested them by shining a flashlight on the top of the structure to see if the light entered the shelter or if their pumpkin was shaded. If the pumpkins were exposed to the light students made improvements to their shelters and retested to ensure their pumpkins would be fully sheltered from the light.