One classroom favorite topic to cover across the board is apples! For teachers and students alike, learning about apples and an apple investigation is a fall favorite. Who knew one fruit could bring fun and help students master important science concepts?
If you’re gearing up and trying to plan apple investigations, you’ve come to the right place. Instead of spending a ton of time all over Pinterest trying to find and plan all of your activities, you can get all of your inspiration right here! Let’s dive into some fun and effective activities to add to your apple lesson plans to help you successfully teach all about apples!
One of my favorite ways to both introduce a new topic and review is to use interactive read alouds. This powerful time of day allows us to not only connect with students but provides an opportunity to teach and model important reading strategies and skills. Here are a few apple books that you could use for read alouds:
I have two more book recommendations on my Science Read Aloud Mega List. You can get it for FREE, and it has book recommendations for every science topic you might teach! Get it HERE!
To get your apple investigation started, you can ask students to describe apples by thinking about their fives senses. You could do this in a class science journal, in individual interactive notebooks, as a KWL anchor cart, or in a flip up book like this.
Writing about science is a great way to integrate literacy, support ELL students, and squeeze in extra practice!
Another great way to get started with apple investigations is to cut an apple open and have students label the parts of an apple. Again, you can do this as a whole group creating an anchor chart, in small groups, or individually.
Here are a few videos about apples that your students may enjoy, but remember to always preview videos first to be sure they’re a good fit for your learners. Videos can be a great lesson opener!
Blippie’s Apple Fruit Factory Tour | This video walks students through how apples get from the orchard to the grocery store.
Apple Life Cycle | This wordless video shows real photos of apples in different phases of the life cycle. You can use this to have students practice the academic vocabulary as they watch it.
Facts About Apples For Kids | This short video gives students a few interesting facts about apples.
Next, you can teach students all about the apple life cycle and how an apple starts as a tiny seed and grows from huge trees in an orchard. Students always love seeing the transformation! You could create a flow map anchor chart together or use teaching posters to help students understand the new vocabulary.
One of the most exciting parts of your apple investigation is the hands-on investigation part! There are so, so many activities you can do!
First, you could do a science experiment revolving around apples. There are so many different ones to choose from. If you want one totally planned for you, check it out in this resource!
Next, you can also do different types of apple tasting and have students describe what they tasted. You could choose to taste different varieties of apples or different ways to eat apples (apples, apple sauce, apple juice, etc.).
Finally, in addition to labeling the parts of an apple, students can deconstruct an apple to find and identify all of its parts.
There are just so many different activities you can do during your next apple investigation! If you want to take out some of the planning, I can definitely help!
The Apple Investigation Flip Up Book has five apple investigation activities all in one easy-to-assemble flip up book. This handy resource covers everything you’ll want to talk about during your investigation.
If you want a more all-inclusive resource about apples, the All About Apples Science Unit is for you! This resource has a week-long teaching plan and includes all teacher and student materials to successfully teach all about apples. It’s jam-packed with science activities, literacy resources, and hands-on activities!
No matter if you only have a few minutes each day to cover apples or a whole week with tons of science time, these resources will help you cover all of the standards you need to. Plus, your students will absolutely love learning all about apples!
I’m a K-1 teacher who is passionate about making lessons your students love and that are easy to implement for teachers. Helping teachers like you navigate their way through their literacy block brings me great joy. I am a lifelong learner who loves staying on top of current literacy learning and practices. Here, you’ll find the tools you need to move your K-2 students forward!
