What Can You Learn From Apple Season?- By the Westchester Children's Museum
Sunday, November 07, 2010
There is a chill in the air as fall approaches and we can look forward to the beginning of school, beautiful fall foliage and apple picking. A trip to an orchard or the local farmers market can spark a great conversation about many children’s favorite fruit – the apple. Let your children sample the bountiful variety of apples, exploring different sizes, shapes, colors, textures and tastes. While the most obvious way to “explore” an apple is to take a great big bite, here is a simple apple experiment that will introduce children to several science topics.
Materials:
• One apple
• Knife
• Two paper plates
What to Do:
• Cut an apple in half.
• Place one of the halves, skin side up, on a paper plate.
• Peel and chop the other half in small pieces and place on the second plate.
• Place both plates in a cool dark spot. Ask your child to make some predictions about what will happen to the apples on each plate. Observe what happens over the next week. Encourage your child to expand his vocabulary with descriptive words for the size, shape, color and texture of the fruit.
To further discuss, you can pose these questions:
• What do you think is happening to the apples?
• Does the half apple look different from the chopped apples? Why?
• How do the apples feel to the touch? How is this different from before?
• What could we do to stop the apples from changing?
Follow up
Place a small cup of water in the same cool dark spot. Make a mark to note the water level. Observe the cup over the next week. Where did the water go? Observe the ‘skin’ on other fruits, such as a banana, or peach. How are they the same/different? What happens when you remove the ‘skin’ from these fruits? Most children love to eat apples. Learn how you can use apples as a teaching tool.
What Can You Learn From Apple Season?
Apple Wisdom
- An apple is approximately 80 percent water.
- The human body is approximately 55 to 65 percent water.
- The peel or skin of an apple works much like the skin on the human body, protecting the flesh – even bruising, and helping to keep the water inside from evaporating.
- While observing an apple shrivel, children can make connections to their own bodies, the water cycle and decomposition.
Help Build the Museum’s Walls!
Right now, we are a museum without walls…but here at the Westchester Children’s Museum, we believe that children learn by doing, and learning can be done anywhere. Experiential learning is the foundation on which we build all our activities.
Our goal is to open the doors of the actual Museum in 2010 in historic landmark buildings on the Boardwalk of the Long Island Sound at Rye Playland. But we can’t do it without your help. Your donations, your volunteer time, your enthusiasm and your voices are welcome. Visit Discover WCM to learn more.
Materials:
• One apple
• Knife
• Two paper plates
What to Do:
• Cut an apple in half.
• Place one of the halves, skin side up, on a paper plate.
• Peel and chop the other half in small pieces and place on the second plate.
• Place both plates in a cool dark spot. Ask your child to make some predictions about what will happen to the apples on each plate. Observe what happens over the next week. Encourage your child to expand his vocabulary with descriptive words for the size, shape, color and texture of the fruit.
To further discuss, you can pose these questions:
• What do you think is happening to the apples?
• Does the half apple look different from the chopped apples? Why?
• How do the apples feel to the touch? How is this different from before?
• What could we do to stop the apples from changing?
Follow up
Place a small cup of water in the same cool dark spot. Make a mark to note the water level. Observe the cup over the next week. Where did the water go? Observe the ‘skin’ on other fruits, such as a banana, or peach. How are they the same/different? What happens when you remove the ‘skin’ from these fruits? Most children love to eat apples. Learn how you can use apples as a teaching tool.
What Can You Learn From Apple Season?
Apple Wisdom
- An apple is approximately 80 percent water.
- The human body is approximately 55 to 65 percent water.
- The peel or skin of an apple works much like the skin on the human body, protecting the flesh – even bruising, and helping to keep the water inside from evaporating.
- While observing an apple shrivel, children can make connections to their own bodies, the water cycle and decomposition.
Help Build the Museum’s Walls!
Right now, we are a museum without walls…but here at the Westchester Children’s Museum, we believe that children learn by doing, and learning can be done anywhere. Experiential learning is the foundation on which we build all our activities.
Our goal is to open the doors of the actual Museum in 2010 in historic landmark buildings on the Boardwalk of the Long Island Sound at Rye Playland. But we can’t do it without your help. Your donations, your volunteer time, your enthusiasm and your voices are welcome. Visit Discover WCM to learn more.
