Science Apple Activities 

 

I have listed some of the fun things that we try to include in our Apple Unit for science. 

1.   Use a paper bag (upside down) to show the parts of an apple tree.  Place apple tree (leaves, branches, apples and trunk) at the top of the bag (upside down!)   Use the bottom of the bag (flap part) to put roots to show they are under the ground. 

2.  Investigate different kinds of seeds.  While doing one of the cooking, math or art activities, include a study of seeds.  Teacher and/or students can bring in different kinds of seeds to study.  We sort the different seeds into an egg carton and use a magnifying glass to examine.   We look at the size, color, etc to sort different kinds of seeds.

3.  Seasons of the Year.    This is a great time to show how an apple tree would look at different times of the year.  I read several books that are listed on the Apple Activities page before doing this project.   Students are given a blank booklet with six pages.  See example below for the text for each page.   I print this on a word processor using a half page for each sentence. 

Seasons of the Year This is fall.
This is winter This is spring.
This is summer. This is my favorite season.

Students can be given a simple tree trunk pattern  of brown construction paper or they could draw their own tree trunk on each page.  Each page is decorated as follows:

 

cover:  Student draws an apple tree with crayons

fall:  After gluing brown tree trunk on the page, small apples are stamped with a stamp.  I use a small apple stamp that shows the apples are ready for harvest.

winter:  Glue brown tree trunk on page and add small pieces of cotton to show the winter season.

spring:  Glue tree trunk on page and add small pieces of pink tissue paper (1 inch squares) that have been wrapped around a pencil eraser to show the apple blossoms.

summer:  Glue tree trunk on page and use small stickers to add the red, green or yellow apples.  Staples carry these tiny 1/2 inch apple stickers.

last page:  Glue another tree trunk or have the student draw a picture of what their favorite season of the year would look like. 

 

4.  Seasons of the Year--  Another activity that would reinforce the different seasons of the year would be a simple art project shown below.  This was given to me by Paige Brown of Fairfield, California.  She used a 1/2 sheet (6x18") of red construction paper cut vertically.  My example shows this in two parts in order to fit it in the scanner!  All four pictures would be horizontal on the page side by side and starting with the fall season.  Hope this makes sense.  A full sheet of drawing paper was cut in half and two seasons were on each half sheet--as shown below.  

  Click on pictures to see an example.

5.  Apple Investigation 

Have the students investigate a cut apple that has been left out for a few days.  Observe the changes each day and record the differences.  This is a great opportunity to expand their vocabularies. 

6.  Five Senses

Have a tasting session using different kinds of apples.  Make a list of describing words.  Graph the ones that they liked the best.

7.  Trees 

Discuss different kinds of trees and which trees make fruit.  Take a walk and look at different trees to see which ones have fruit.  Read books about trees.