Here is what we did on day 5 of apple day…

We predicted whether or not we thought the apples we had would float or sink.  Before testing the apples in the water, we talked about why or why not the apples would float or sink.

We then made a graph to show our predictions…

I was going to use a huge galvanized tin bucket I had, but then decided that for a 15 minute lesson, it would take just as long to fill it, wasting their time and mine!  I went with a dish pan instead, and so everyone could see the experiment, I had one row of children sit, the next row sat up on their knees and the third row stood behind them.

I asked the children in what order they would like for me to test the floating/sinking abilities of the apples and they decided upon size, so in went the small red apples, then the small green apples.  They floated!  In went the medium sized and then the large apples.  They were very sure that the larger the apples got, the more likely they were to sink–a common misconception!

After we concluded that all the apples were going to float, no matter what size, we talked about why they floated.  One child said that the apples floated because they were pretty lightweight in comparison to rocks.  Another child said that the apples floated because the skin and the fleshy part of the apples weren’t very heavy.  We then compared the apples to bird bones, talking about how they were hollow, and because of that it was easy for the birds to fly.  We looked at the apples up close and determined that we thought that there might be tiny holes in the fleshy part of the apples, making them full of air and giving them the ability to float.  The children wanted to know why they could not float when they swam.  We talked about our lungs and how they help us do that and then discussed some materials that would help us float and stay safe near the water.

After that…, we made our pattern block graphs (we made the pattern block apples on Day 4).

I purposely gave each of the tables different options for filling in their apples.  Some had lots of hexagons, some had none, other tables had only blue diamonds and green triangles.  I wanted them to see that it was possible to fill in their apples different ways.  When it came time for us to do the graphing portion, we talked about why each graph would look different from the others.  I modeled a graph for the children, asking them to put a light “x” on each shape once it has been counted, so that it is not counted twice.

Next week, we will do a quick overview of Pumpkins, so that we can learn about both apples and pumpkins before our trip to Stuckey Farm in a few weeks.  Stuckey Farm is an apple orchard, pumpkin patch, farm, and store where you can purchase all the apple products, pumpkin products, and honey you could ever want.  We will get to see how they press apples to make them into apple cider, and get to taste several varieties of apples and apple cider.  We then take a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch were I get to pick a pumpkin (we will do lots of things with it, so check back next month for that) and then we watch how corn meal is made (we will then bake corn bread from it and make our own butter to go with it).  We also check out the inside of a beehive and talk about the jobs of the different bees.

See you Monday!

Kristen 😉