1

2

Apple Chain ............................................. 3

Slice of Soil .............................................. 4

Apple Blossom Tree ................................ 5

Apple Parts Plates ................................... 6

Ripe Wipe ................................................. 7

One Bad Apple ......................................... 8

Apple Idioms ............................................ 9-10

Table of Contents

3

Grade Level: K-3

Objective: This activity is designed to help students in sequencing and building models as well as help them understand the life cycle of an apple.

Common Core: Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.3; W.4.2 Mathematics: CCSS.Math.Content.4.MD.2 Next Generation Science Standards: Animals, Plants & their Environment: K-LS1-1 Weather & Climate: 3-ESS2-1 Life Cycles & Traits: 3-LS1-1; 3-LS3-1

Suggested Reading Materials:

IAITC Apple Ag Mag

Apple Terra Nova

From Seed to Apple by Anita Ganeri, ISBN-10: 1403478716

Apples to Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson, ISBN-10: 1416967460

What You Will Need:

• Red Paper Plates • Stapler • Yarn • Colored construction paper • Hole punch • Templates on the next page or from our website—www.agintheclassroom.org

Activity Instructions:

1. Print each template on construction paper: seed (brown), tree (green), blos-som (pink), bee (yellow), little apple (green). Punch a hole on each side of the items you made with construction paper. The seed needs a hole on one side only.

2. Staple two red paper plates together around 2/3 of the edge. Leave the other 1/3 open.

3. Tape a piece of yarn to the inside of the stapled paper plates and extend the yarn out of the opening.

4. Add a stem to the red paper plates to make them look like an apple.

5. Tie the little green apple to the yarn coming out of the apple. Tie the bee to the little green apple. Tie the blossom to the bee. Tie the tree to the blossom. Tie the seed to the tree. These should all form a chain.

6. Tuck the green apple, bee, blossom, tree, and seed into the apple. Starting with seed, slowly pull shapes out of the apple and tell the story of how apples grow.

Apple Chain

4

Slice of Soil Grade Level: 2-4 Objective: After completing this activity, students will have a better understanding of our natural resources and how agriculture is important to their future. Common Core: Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.7; RF.4.4; W.4.1; W.4.9 Mathematics: CCSS.Math.Content.4.NF.3 Next Generation Science Standards: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems: 3-LS4-1; 3-LS4-4; 3-LS2-1 Inheritance and Variation of Traits: Life Cycles and Traits: 3-LS3-2 Energy: 4-PS3-4; ETS1.A Suggested Reading Materials: IAITC Soil Ag Mag A Handful of Dirt by Raymond Bial, ISBN: 0802786987 What You Will Need: • 1 Apple • Paring Knife • Cutting Board Activity Instructions: Soil is one of our most important natural resources on the earth’s surface. Many living things depend on it for food. People do, too. Not all soil is good enough for plants to grow. Com-plete this activity to learn just how little soil we have to grow food. 1. Cut an apple into four equal parts. Three parts represent the oceans of the world. The

fourth part represents the land area. 2. Cut the land section in half lengthwise. Now you have two 1/8 pieces. One section repre-

sents land such as deserts, swamps, Antarctic, Arctic, and mountain regions. The other 1/8 section represents land where man can live and may or may not be able to grow food.

3. Slice this 1/8 section crosswise into four equal parts. Three of these 1/32 sections repre-sent the areas of the world that are too rocky, too wet, too hot, or where soils are too poor to grow food. Plus, we can’t grow food on some land because cities and other man-made structures are built on it.

4. Carefully peel the last 1/32 section. The peel on this small piece represents the amount of soil on which we have to grow food. This amount of soil will never get any bigger.

Extended Response: Why is soil so important? Think about its impact on agriculture and the foods you eat. Be sure to include your own experiences along with information from the Soil Ag Mag to support your answer.

5

Apple Blossom Tree Grade Level: K-3

Objective: Apple trees bloom in the spring and ripen in the fall. Use this activity to learn more about the apple life cycle. Next Generation Science Standards: Earth’s Systems: K-E552-2; From Molecules to organisms: K-LS1-1

Suggested Reading Materials:

The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall, ISBN-10: 0590623834

Hooray for Orchards by Bobbie Kalman, ISBN-10: 0865056676

Apple Picking Time by Michele Benoit Slawson, ISBN-10: 0517885751

A Song for Lena by Hilary Horder Hippely, ISBN-10: 0689807635

What You Will Need

Brown and green construction paper • Glue Sticks

Pink and white tissue paper • Red Bingo Stickers

Scissors • Bee/Bug Stickers

Activity Instructions:

1. Trace the two treetops onto green construction paper and cut out. Two tops are needed for each tree.

2. Trace the tree trunk onto brown construction paper and cut out.

3. Lay one treetop on the table. Glue the tree trunk to this top. Then, match up and glue on the other top.

4. Cut pink and white tissue paper into small squares.

5. On one side of the tree, glue on crumpled tissue paper to represent blossoms.

6. Add a bug or bee sticker to the blossoms. Pollination must occur in order for an apple to grow. This growth first starts in the flower. Label this side of the trunk “spring.”

7. On the other side of the tree, use the bingo marker to dab circles on the treetop. When the ink is dry, use the red marker to create stems. Label this side of the trunk “fall.”

6

Apple Parts Plates

Grade Level: K-3

Objective: The students will be able to identify the different structures of an apple and will have an understanding of the function of each structure. Next Generation Science Standards: From Molecules to organisms: 1-LS1-1; Engineering Design: K-2-ETS1-2

Suggested Reading Materials:

Apple Terra Nova Apples by Gail Gibbons, ISBN-10: 0823416690 A Fruit is a Suitcase for Seeds by Jean Richards, ISBN-10: 0822559919

What You Will Need:

Paper Plates • Crayons, colored pencils, or markers

Brown yarn • Hole punch

Brown and green construction paper

Activity Instructions:

1. Using red, green, or yellow markers or crayons, color the bottom side of two paper plates.

2. Cut green and brown construction paper into 1 inch leaf and seed shapes, respectively.

3. Punch one hole into the center of each paper plate and one hole in each seed, and your leaf piece, near the edge of each piece.

4. Using a six inch piece of yarn, tie a bow in one end. This bow will represent the eye on the bottom of your apple.

5. Sting the apple pieces onto the yarn in this order: plate (bottom down), 5-10 seeds, sec-ond plate (bottom up), and then your leaf.

6. Tie a small knot about one inch from the end of your yarn. This excess yarn is your stem. *If your knot is not big enough, paperclip your leaf to the yarn.

7. Describe the purpose of each of the parts of an apple: “stem,” “leaf,” “flesh,” “skin,” “core,” “seeds,” and “eye.”

8. Optional: Label the parts of the apple with a black marker.

7

Ripe Wipe Grade Level: 4-6

Common Core: ELA-Literacy.W.4.2; W.4.8

Next Generation Science Standards: Structures and Processes: 4-LS1-2;

Engineering Design: 3-5-ETS1-3

What You Will Need:

• Several apples at different levels of ripeness (Preferably the same variety)

• Pastry Brush • Knife and cutting board • Iodine

Intro:

Apples contain starch which naturally converts to sugar as the apple ripens. This process

starts near the core of the apple and moves toward the skin. An apple is considered ripe

when most of the starch has turned into sugar.

Iodine will appear dark purple in the presence of starch. If you apply iodine to an apple that

has ripened, it will not appear to be very purple as most of the starch is now sugar. However,

an unripe apple will stain heavily purple, meaning there is much more starch present.

Directions:

1. Label the apples (Apple “A,” Apple “B,”...etc.) and have the students make observations

about the color, texture, firmness, and size of each sample. This may be easiest in a chart

format.

2. Cut the apples in half (transversely) and separate

the top half from the bottom half.

3. Observe all the apple halves while taking care to

remember which halves go together.

4. Using the pastry brush, wipe iodine across the cut

surface of the bottom half of each apple. Let the

apples sit for 1-2 minutes.

5. The cut surface of the apples will begin to change

color depending on the levels of starch.

6. Make final observations and conclusions in an ex-

planatory paragraph.

8

One Bad Apple Grade Level: Middle School

Common Core: ELA-Literacy.RL.6.4; RI.6.4; L.6.5

Next Generation Science Standards:

Engineering Design: MS-ETS1-1; MS-ETS1-3; MS-ETS1-4.

Suggested Reading Materials:

11 Experiments That Failed by Jenny Offill & Nancy Carpenter, ISBN-10: 0375847626

The Fruits We Eat by Gail Gibbons, ISBN-10: 0823432041

What You Will Need:

Apples of different ripeness (preferably same type of apple)

Under ripened bananas • Brown paper bags

Intro: As apples ripen they give off ethylene gas. When contained, in a brown paper

bag for example, this ethylene gas accelerates the ripening process of other fruits. Ethylene

is also produced by injured fruits. Following the scientific method, complete this experiment

to see first hand how different variables can change the ripening process.

Directions:

1. Write down observations about the different apples as well as the under ripened bananas.

2. Hypothesize how long it will take the bananas to ripen. What will a ripe banana look like?

3. Stage the bananas. Place one on a counter or on a table where it will not be disturbed.

Place a second banana in a brown paper bag. Place a third banana in a brown paper bag

with an under ripe apple. Place a banana in a brown paper bag with a ripe apple. In the

last bag, place a banana with an apple and slice the apple open.

4. Let the bags sit closed over several nights. Make observations each day as to the pro-

gress of the ripening bananas. Look for yellowing, softness, and brown or black spots to

appear.

5. Draw conclusions; Which bananas ripened fastest? Why?

Lesson Extension: Consider the idiom, “ one bad apple spoils the whole bunch.” What

does that idiom mean, both literally and figuratively?

9

Grade Level: 4-5

Common Core: ELA-Literacy.RL.4.6; L.4.3; L.4.4; L.4.5

Reading Materials:

Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship by Edward Hemingway, ISBN-10: 0375847626

What You Will Need:

White paper

Colored pencils/markers

Copies of the worksheet on page

Directions:

1. Read Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship aloud.

2. Discuss the term, “one bad apple spoils the whole bunch” and its use in the book. Does

the author’s use of the term match the typical meaning of the phrase?

3. Review idioms and figurative language.

4. Have the students complete the apple-idiom matching activity on the next page.

5. Discuss how each apple idiom has a literal and a figurative meaning.

6. Have the students fold a piece of paper in half width-wise.

7. Have the students choose their favorite apple idiom from the list. On the left side of their

paper, they should illustrate the literal meaning of the phrase. On the right side of their pa-

per they should illustrate the figurative meaning of the phrase.

Lesson Extension:

Provide the students with a speaking activity by having them present or even act out their in-

terpretations of the literal and figurative meanings of their favorite apple idioms.

Lesson Answers:

1: B, 2: E, 3: A, 4: C, 5: G, 6: F, 7: D

Apple Idioms

10

Idioms are phrases and sayings that are used to mean something different from what is literally being

said. This special meaning is figurative. Many popular English idioms involve apples.

Directions:

Below, match the apple idiom with it’s figurative meaning.

1._____ An apple a day keeps the

doctor away

2._____ Upset the apple cart

3._____ The Big Apple

4._____ As American as apple pie

5._____ The apple of my eye

6._____Comparing apples and

oranges

7._____ One bad apple spoils the

whole bunch

A. New York City

B. Do something small regularly to

prevent a big problem in the fu-

ture

C. An example of something that

represents the United States

D. It only takes one person to ruin

things for a group

E. To mess up or ruin something

F. There is no way to compare two

subjects

G. A very special person

Apple Idioms

11

12

Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom

1701 Towanda Avenue

Bloomington, IL 61701

309-557-3334