Wonderful Watermelons

  The dictionary defines watermelon as a large oblong or rounded fruit with a hard rind, a sweet watery red, yellow, or pink pulp, and many seeds.  My children say it is juicy,  sweet, and yummy!!

  

  We had a fun day with our watermelon math. The children all guesstimated how much it weighed. 

         Shyanna 55  Amelia 85  Evan 85  Boone 85  Austin 65     Meranda 25    Kendrianna 25   Brailee 33  Peyton 26   Adron 24 Liz 25   Braxton 78  Jacob 35  April 24  Olivia 90  

The winner is written in red.

The actual watermelon was 14 pounds.

We all voted on our favorite kind of watermelon.

   The children then cut a string to guess the circumference of the watermelon.  They measured how many bears long their string was actually.

Peyton got the closest with his estimation on the circumference..

They took their string home to find 5 things at their home that is the same length as their string.  We then went outside and enjoyed the watermelon.

   

 

 

 

Eat more watermelons 

Watermelon Art

 

    Watermelon Facts   

    Watermelon is grown in over 96 countries worldwide.

   Watermelon is 92% water.

   Early explorers used watermelons as  canteens.

   In 1990, Bill Carson, of Arrington, Tennessee, grew the largest watermelon at  262 pounds that is still  on the record books.

   Eating watermelon seeds does not cause a watermelon to grow in your stomach.

   There are over 1200 varieties grown worldwide.

   Every part of a watermelon is edible.

   The word watermelon first appeared in the English dictionary in 1615.

   The first  recorded watermelon harvest occurred nearly 5000 years ago in Egypt.

 

  

Literature  

Down by the Bay  ~  Raffi  &  Nadine Bernard Westcott

Watermelon Day ~ Kathi Alppelt

One Watermelon See ~ Celia Barker Lottridge & Karen Patkau

The Enormous Watermelon ! Brenda Parker

Berstain Bears and the Missing Watermelon Money ~ Jan & Stan Berstain

 

                                                     Links

 Mrs. Sirois's Unit

 Mrs. Pohlmeyer's Unit

 Kinderthemes

 Step by Step

 The Virtual Vine Wild About Watermelons

 Watermelon .org

 Zwolle School

 Family crafts

 Addie's Wonderful Watermelons

 Mrs. Bonthuis's The Enormous Watermelon

 Michele's Place

 Watermelon Math

 

 Activities 

 

  Watermelon KWL chart.  Ask the group what they know about watermelons and record their answers on a large watermelon shape.  Then ask what they would like to learn and record their answers.  At the end of the day or unit  go back and have them tell what they have learned.

  Bring a watermelon to school and do the following math activities. 

 1.  Estimate how much it weighs.  Record their guesses on a chart.

 2.  Have each child cut  a piece of yarn or twine for the circumference  of the watermelon.  The teacher actually measures with a piece of yarn.  The children then compare their pieces of string or yarn.  Record on a chart if they were too small, too big or right.  

 3. Later in the day, cut the watermelon and give each child a piece.  Have them estimate how many seeds their piece might have.  After they eat their piece go back and compare.  Add all the seeds together using small cups for ones and a large cup for 10's.  Then count to see how many total seeds the watermelon contained. 

 4. You could also make a graph of  their favorite kind of watermelon.  Do they prefer red, yellow , orange, or possibly they might not like watermelon.

 5.  Also, go outside have have a watermelon spiting contest.

 Read the book  "The Enormous Watermelon".  Have the children name other things that could be enormous.  Give each child a paper with the sentence _________is enormous.  Have each child illustrate their page for a class book.

    Ask the children  "How do you tell when a watermelon is ripe?"  Record  their answers on on chart paper.  This could be made into a book  also.

    Do the lesson on watermelons from the TLC Spring and Summer book.

             You could also have them take 1/2 of a paper plate and paint green on the edge and red in the middle.  Either glue real seeds or make seeds with markers, crayons or paint.  Another version would be for the children to use their their thumb for the seeds.