Use pumpkin seeds as a way to explore estimation. Remove the seeds from inside a pumpkin, clean them and dry them out. Set the seeds in a bowl and invite students to estimate how many seeds are in the bowl -- place 10 seeds in a clear cup next to the large bowl for students to use as a reference when making their estimates. Once students have estimated, count the actual total number of seeds. Have students use addition or subtraction to determine how many more or less seeds they estimated compared to the actual amount of pumpkin seeds.
Explore measurement using pumpkins. Set out three different sized pumpkins. Instruct students to examine the size of the pumpkins and place them in order from widest to the thinnest. Discuss circumference with students and explain to them that they are going to measure the circumference of each of the pumpkins to determine if they have actually been placed in the correct order. Wrap a tape measure around each pumpkin to determine the circumference of each one. Use the actual measurements to determine if the pumpkins have been placed in the proper order of widest to thinnest.
Teach addition with pumpkin seeds. Write an addition problem on a piece of paper. Provide students with pumpkin seeds and explain to them that they should count out a number of pumpkin seeds that corresponds to each addend in the given addition problem. For example, in the problem 5+3, students count out five seeds and then three seeds; to determine the sum, they count the total number of pumpkin seeds.
Use pumpkins as a means of exploring graphs. Draw a line down the center of a piece of poster board. At the top of one column, write the word "yes," and at the top of the other, write the word "no." Provide students with clothespins and ask them questions that pertain to pumpkins; for example, if they like to carve pumpkins, if they like pumpkin pie or if they have ever gone to a pumpkin patch. Ask one question at a time and have students place their clothespins on the side of the poster board that illustrates their answer to the question. Analyze the graph to determine if the "yes" or "no" column has more clothespins. Compare how many more or less each column has with each question that is asked.