Apple Science

Apple Science
These lessons and activities are some of my own, some I have gathered throughout my years of teaching, and some I have borrowed from my 'cyber colleagues'. I hope you find them useful.

"Memory"Apples
Objectives:

T.L.W. describe (by drawing) the visual physical properties of an apple.

Materials:

1 apple per child (ask parents to send in?)
1 small paper bag per child
1 piece of drawing or construction paper per child, folded in half vertically
individual pencils, crayons, or markers

Procedure:
Ask each student to bring in at least one apple from home. Place each apple in a small paper bag and close. Ask students to describe their apple. "How big is it?" "What color is it?" "What shape is it?", etc. Distribute drawing paper and supplies. Instruct students to draw their apple on the left half of the paper without looking back inside the bag.
When finished, ask students to take their apple out of the paper bag and look at it closely and compare it to the one they drew. Next, ask them to put the apple on their desks where they can look at it and draw it again on the right half of the paper, looking at their apple as they draw.
After the second drawing, ask students to share their drawings with the class . Encourage them to share dialog describing the apples.

Apple Sprouts
Note: This activity will need to be started at least 2 weeks prior to presentation by the teacher. It takes about 4 more weeks for the apple seeds to sprout. You may want to do the first part of the lesson approx. 4 weeks prior to beginning your Apple or Plant Unit, then return to it after the seeds have had adequate time to germinate.
Objectives:

T.L.W. observe and describe (by drawing) the parts of an apple seedling.
T.L.W. osbserve an apple plant in growth.
T.L.W. gain knowlege of the three elements plants need to grow and live.
T.L.W. understand the term germination.
T.L.W. observe that there are 7 days in a week.

Materials:

apple seeds (Do not use Yellow or Red Delicious. They don't sprout.)
paper towels
plastic zipper bags (2 or 3)
magnifying glass(es)
paper cups (1 per every 2 or 3 sprouts)
potting soil (enough to fill paper cups)
paper, pencils, crayons, etc. or:
optional: observational journals

Preceeding presentation of the initial lesson, you will need to collect several seeds from apples. Allow these seeds to dry for about 2 weeks.

Procedure:
Show the dried seeds to the students. Ask them if they believe the seeds will grow inside a cold refrigerator. If they have some prior knowledge of what seeds need in order to grow, they should say 'no'. Discuss and list what plants need in order to grow and live. Explain that apple seeds sprout (germinate) better when they are cold and moist.
Allow the students to help you lay the seeds inside damp paper towels. Place these inside plastic zipper bags and put in a refrigerator. Allow the students to help decide how to remember when to take the seeds out of the refrigerator (mark on a calendar, check off the days?).
Students may draw the seeds andwite a few words about the experience. If keeping journals, add to them.
After the seeds have saprouted, let the students look at them through a magnifying glass and draw ( and label?) what they saw. Be sure to draw their attention to the parts of the seedling.
Help the students plant the seedlings in paper cups filled with potting soil. Place them in a sunny location and keep the soil moist. Periodically, have the students add to their journals.

"Sink or Swim?"

Objectives:
T.L.W.

Materials:

1 clear container of water
3 or 4 apples
individual pencils, drawing paper, crayons or markers

Procedure 1:

Place the apples and container of water in front of the students. Ask them to predict what they think an apple will do if placed in the water. Will it sink or float? Distribute drawing supplies and ask them to ilustrate what they believe will happen.
After completion of the drawings, place one apple in the container of water to discover what it will do (the apple should float). Remove the first apple and place another in the water. Did both apples float the same way?
Students can flip the drawing paper over and record the way the two apples floated. Older students might write a paragraph telling the procedure.

Procedure 2:

Before placing the apples in water, help the students complete a class graph telling whather of not they think the apple will float. After conducting the experiment, refer back to the graph to see how many thought correctly.

Make mini booklets with a page for each season. Draw what an apple tree looks like in each season. Q-tips work great for making apples on the tree. Pink tissue paper makes nice blossoms.

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