An Even BIGGER Zucchini!!! A Garden Math Adventure Narrated by 2-Dr

A week ago members of 2-Dr discovered a gigantic zucchini (cocozelle) in the garden. It was 15 in. long, and we were very surprised! We only had a 12 in. ruler, so one of us held a finger at the end and her partner moved the ruler. The ruler was a foot long and there were 3 extra inches, so that's how we got a total of 15.

Two days later we decided to harvest the gigantic zucchini.. The vine was thick, prickly, slippery, and well-attached, so we had trouble breaking it. Because it was so big, we rolled the zucchini back and forth on the ground while twisting it. When the vine was weak, we ripped the fibers. The zucchini was heavy, and we felt excited, proud, and happy.





We brought it back into the classroom and passed it around to estimate the weight. We thought it would be lighter, but it felt like the weight of a newborn baby. We guessed that it would be about 5-7 pounds.

We were close! It weighed seven and a half pounds!

We liked bringing it to Mr. Conard. His first words when he saw how big it was were "Holy moly!"

Some of us expected the zucchini to be longer than the distance around the fattest part. We used a tape measure and a string. It was 16 inches long and 16 and a half inches around the fatness.

                Then we took it to Mr.Williams, and he was happy and showed Ms. Williams in the kitchen. He        looked at the menu and decided to cut it up into rectangles for the salad bar.

Even though the zucchini tasted plain, it tasted pretty good. It doesn't have a flavor like grapes or oranges or candy, but it tasted good dipped in blue cheese and ranch dressing. We think Mr.Williams will never forget the day that we gave him the giant zucchini.

Measuring the Italian zucchini!

This morning, class 1SW went outside and had our first quiet sensory search in the garden. We saw lots of things and were very careful about where we stepped!  Before we left the garden, we borrowed a yardstick from Ms. Dugan and measured the zucchini. It was 11 inches long! We were so excited! Then we came back to our classroom and wrote in our garden journals for the very first time. On the next visit, we will use our 5 senses to see what we discover! A special thanks to A. Drovetsky for snapping the picture for us!

A big squash, hiding under the leaves!

Today I found a big cocozelle squash hidden under the leaves in the garden. What's a cocozelle squash? It's an Italian zucchini. It is supposed to be very tender and flavorful. I have been watching it for about a month and hoping that it would get nice and big. It has! Tomorrow I will go outside and measure it with class 1SW if it isn't raining. I hope that the chipmunks don't get to it in the night! I sprinkled hot, crushed peppers around it in hopes of keeping them away! Cross your fingers!

Caught looking in the garden!

Deer on the run...

A not so fast turkey get away!



 There was a lot of activity in the garden when I arrived this weekend! Normally, I can't get my camera out fast enough, but today I was armed and ready! I saw several turkeys looking in the garden, along with some deer and a big furry groundhog. They all scampered away pretty fast, but I was able to snap a few pictures. One turkey had a hurt leg and was limping.