10/08/2026
Calhoun Co. First-Graders Dig Into Pumpkin Lesson
Farm Bureau’s Ag in the Classroom (AITC) is back, now that the fall school semester is well underway. Students in the two elementary schools in Calhoun County recently had the opportunity to discover the important role that farming plays in our daily lives.
First-grade students at Manson Northwest Webster (MNW) in Barnum, as well as first-graders at the South Central Calhoun (SCC) elementary school in Rockwell City, recently learned all about pumpkins.
Kalene Berte, County AITC coordinator, used paper plates to create a “life-cycle wheel” to help the students learn how pumpkins grow. “There are six different views that depict the various stages of a pumpkin’s growth, including the seed, sprout, vine, flowers, a green pumpkin, and an orange pumpkin,” Berte said. “The kids learned the purpose of the seed coat, what a seed needs to germinate, what tendrils are, how pollination and pollinators work, and the fact that all pumpkins start out green.”
Students also got to inspect a real pumpkin vine and flowers, plus they used a tape measure to quantify the length of the vine. “They learned that some pumpkin vines can grow to 30 feet long,” Berte said.
Next, the kids had the chance to dig in, literally, with their hands to discover the different parts of a pumpkin, including the seeds.
“I explained that pumpkins have hundreds of seeds that we can use to grow more pumpkins,” said Berte, who had the students place the pumpkin seeds in piles of 10 to practice their counting skills. One group counted 576 seeds in their pumpkin in the allotted time. “I related it to how one ear of corn has hundreds of kernels (seeds) that can be planted to make more corn,” Berte said.
Berte also helped the kids learn what parts of the pumpkin are healthy for people to eat (pumpkins are a good source of Vitamin A, which is important for clear vision), and whether pumpkins are a fruit or a vegetable (they’re a fruit).
Then the big question—do pumpkins sink or float? “We did this experiment with two different sized pumpkins, as well as an apple, tangerine, and a potato,” Berte said. “The kids learned that yes, pumpkins can float!”
Before the pumpkin lesson ended, each student received a fun, pumpkin-themed dot-to-dot worksheet, a worksheet where they could label the various parts of a pumpkin, pumpkin-themed pencils and a tasty pumpkin-spice cookie.
“Thank you to SCC and MNW for letting us share Ag in the Classroom lessons,” said Berte, who also appreciates Farm Bureau volunteer LuAnn Christopher for helping teach the pumpkin lesson.
A number of businesses have supported this AITC lesson, including Landus Cooperative, Menards, and Dewey’s Bakery in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Berte added. “We’re grateful that Dewey’s Bakery donates a box of pumpkin-spice cookies for every classroom and supporting ag education here in Iowa.”
Submitted by Darcy Maulsby
