Sunday, October 11, 2009
Research on Apples
Research on apples:
I have been observing my students eating snacks for a month now. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them eat. Among all the snacks apples are the only ones that they really love eating down to the core! So, since this month’s theme is Farming, we seized the opportunity to do a little research on Apples, which followed on nicely from classroom work we had done on the Tree/ parts of the tree/ fruits/ seeds.
Our class walked to Trader Joe’s yesterday morning. Each child got an umbrella. I showed them how it worked. Some of them had never held one before. (We could have even just gone with our jackets and hoodies because it was only drizzling, but the umbrellas were so much fun, we couldn’t resist them!) When we arrived, a volunteer named Skip from TJ welcomed us in and gave us a grand tour. Our children had many questions to ask about apples. We had already had a good discussion prior to going there!
We discovered all kinds of things about Apples. Some were geographical facts. (Did you know that apples come in more than 300 varieties, some that come from Michigan and the USA and many that come from other countries? Trader Joe’s had apples from Fiji. So later we looked at our globe and found Fiji, which is closer to Australia than America. This led to a great discussion about transportation.) Some were facts about health and nutrition. Ask you child about the healthy benefits of eating apples! Some were mathematical: we discovered that Trader Joe’s prices its apples individually. The children had fun figuring out the difference in price between an organic apple (59c) and a regular one (49c). Then we found out that there are specialty apples that are sold for much higher prices. Every week they have a specialty apple. This week’s special was Honey Rise apple from upstate New York. One apple costs $ 1.29. When the children heard this they said, “Oh my!” It was very sweet to see their reaction.
At the end of the tour, Skip gave each of our students an apple and a balloon. They all shook his hand and thanked him. The children all looked very satisfied after accomplishing so much. Then they picked up their umbrellas opened them and walked back beautifully with the balloons as well. Since we did not have balloons for all the students at SK, we did a little experiment and let the balloons fly. We enjoyed watching them go high… high… and higher
After our trip, we came back and studied the texture of the apples. Then the children looked at the apple and drew apples. We then cut apples; children all looked at the apples as if they had never seen one before. Then they printed yellow and red apples with paint- some got core design, some got stars!
For afternoon snack students washed their apples and then sat down to eat them. Before they bit into it I asked them, what does it sound like when you bite the apple?
This is what they said -
Ocean /rustle of leaves/ biting into a carrot/breaking of a branch/walking into a bridge/turning off the light.
As they were eating I asked them what part they were eating. Which was their favorite?
They all said Golden Delicious, excepting one who said Granny Smith because it was sour. Then we talked about the Five Senses.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this project as much as my students. It was a very special morning. It was a truly interdisciplinary experience, bringing together math, geography, science, art, creative language, discussion skills, manners and social skills, and many other aspects of learning. I am very proud of my students, and all the wonderful work they did!
I have been observing my students eating snacks for a month now. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them eat. Among all the snacks apples are the only ones that they really love eating down to the core! So, since this month’s theme is Farming, we seized the opportunity to do a little research on Apples, which followed on nicely from classroom work we had done on the Tree/ parts of the tree/ fruits/ seeds.
Our class walked to Trader Joe’s yesterday morning. Each child got an umbrella. I showed them how it worked. Some of them had never held one before. (We could have even just gone with our jackets and hoodies because it was only drizzling, but the umbrellas were so much fun, we couldn’t resist them!) When we arrived, a volunteer named Skip from TJ welcomed us in and gave us a grand tour. Our children had many questions to ask about apples. We had already had a good discussion prior to going there!
We discovered all kinds of things about Apples. Some were geographical facts. (Did you know that apples come in more than 300 varieties, some that come from Michigan and the USA and many that come from other countries? Trader Joe’s had apples from Fiji. So later we looked at our globe and found Fiji, which is closer to Australia than America. This led to a great discussion about transportation.) Some were facts about health and nutrition. Ask you child about the healthy benefits of eating apples! Some were mathematical: we discovered that Trader Joe’s prices its apples individually. The children had fun figuring out the difference in price between an organic apple (59c) and a regular one (49c). Then we found out that there are specialty apples that are sold for much higher prices. Every week they have a specialty apple. This week’s special was Honey Rise apple from upstate New York. One apple costs $ 1.29. When the children heard this they said, “Oh my!” It was very sweet to see their reaction.
At the end of the tour, Skip gave each of our students an apple and a balloon. They all shook his hand and thanked him. The children all looked very satisfied after accomplishing so much. Then they picked up their umbrellas opened them and walked back beautifully with the balloons as well. Since we did not have balloons for all the students at SK, we did a little experiment and let the balloons fly. We enjoyed watching them go high… high… and higher
After our trip, we came back and studied the texture of the apples. Then the children looked at the apple and drew apples. We then cut apples; children all looked at the apples as if they had never seen one before. Then they printed yellow and red apples with paint- some got core design, some got stars!
For afternoon snack students washed their apples and then sat down to eat them. Before they bit into it I asked them, what does it sound like when you bite the apple?
This is what they said -
Ocean /rustle of leaves/ biting into a carrot/breaking of a branch/walking into a bridge/turning off the light.
As they were eating I asked them what part they were eating. Which was their favorite?
They all said Golden Delicious, excepting one who said Granny Smith because it was sour. Then we talked about the Five Senses.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this project as much as my students. It was a very special morning. It was a truly interdisciplinary experience, bringing together math, geography, science, art, creative language, discussion skills, manners and social skills, and many other aspects of learning. I am very proud of my students, and all the wonderful work they did!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Parents, here are some updates for October :)
The theme is Eco-Friendly Farming!
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If you have any interesting books or artifacts about farming please send it with your child. My class will be studying about rice-paddy fields and terrace farming.
Please mark your calendars:
1. Wed .Oct. 13th @ 1pm trip to Tantric Farm to harvest vegetables.
2. Thurs. Oct. 15th all day trip to Howell Nature Center.
3. Fri. Oct. 16th Staff dev. Day—NO SCHOOL.
4. Sun. Oct.18th THE CURIOUS EPICURE DINNER-4-7pm.
5. Fri. Oct. 23rd @ 10:00 to Wild Swan Theatre. (Streganona & the magical pasta pot)
6. Fri. OCT. 30th Eco Fair in the morning @ school.
If you have any interesting books or artifacts about farming please send it with your child. My class will be studying about rice-paddy fields and terrace farming. I will keep you posted :-)
We will also carry on with last month’s theme— North Africa— for a week longer because the children are really into making flags! They have been measuring, coloring, cutting and are getting ready to make something special for The Curious Epicure Dinner.
We celebrated the beginning of fall by making “Brain food cookies.”
The children measured oatmeal, brown sugar, sunflower butter, mixed it and voila! There were delicious and nutritious snacks all around!
On Friday we had set up our room a little differently with various math exploration activities. They enjoyed it thoroughly. From now on every Friday we will transform the classroom into Exploring/Discovery Centers, with Scientific Experiments, Math Exploration Centers, Language Art Centers, Social Studies, Cooking, Yoga, field trips to the library, nature walks and so on.
Please mark your calendars:
1. Wed .Oct. 13th @ 1pm trip to Tantric Farm to harvest vegetables.
2. Thurs. Oct. 15th all day trip to Howell Nature Center.
3. Fri. Oct. 16th Staff dev. Day—NO SCHOOL.
4. Sun. Oct.18th THE CURIOUS EPICURE DINNER-4-7pm.
5. Fri. Oct. 23rd @ 10:00 to Wild Swan Theatre. (Streganona & the magical pasta pot)
6. Fri. OCT. 30th Eco Fair in the morning @ school.
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