Planting the seeds for an Apple Inquiry

During the first week of school, students discovered apples on the ground. These apples had fallen from the old apple tree previously located in the Kindergarten yard.

Many students collected these apples from the Kindergarten yard and brought them into the classroom.  Miss Khala and I placed the apples on our science table for the students to take a closer look. Once we introduced our classroom Wonder Wall to the students, we asked the students to share questions about the apples they had collected. [The Wonder Wall is a place where students' questions and wonders are posted and later explored.]

Here are some of the students' questions:

• Why are the apples from the apple tree green?
• If the apples were found on the floor does that mean they are rotten?
• Will the apples get rotten?
• Why can't we eat the green apples from outside?
• Will the trees grow if we planted the seeds?

Many students were interested about whether or not the apples were rotten or if they would eventually rot. The next day, we asked the students the following question:

What do you think will happen to the apples if we left them on our table for a long time?

G.E. - You can't eat them
J.T. - They won't taste good
M.R. -The apples will be muddy
M.P. - The apples will turn red and look like a brain

Do you think our apples are rotten? How can you tell?

M.S. - When they fall on the ground they are really rotten. Our apples fell on the ground.
E.P. - When apples fall off the tree they bruise.

In order to learn more about rotting, we watched a video that explained the changes apples go through as they rot. 

We asked the students if they thought the apples would rot if we: placed them in soil, sand or placed them in a bucket of water. Many said the apples would rot. Students are currently observing and waiting to see what happens. On Day 2, they already noted that the apples were looking more brown/red in colour.

We also decided to cut open the apples and explore the inside. Students touched and manipulated the seeds. Students also found some small brown spots inside the apples. Many wondered if the brown spots meant that the apples were already starting to rot. We compared the seeds inside the apples to the pomegranate seeds from our previous fruit inquiry. The students were curious as to what would happen if we planted the seeds. Students planted both apple and pomegranate seeds in soil. They are currently watching to see if a plant will grow.

Stay tuned for more inquiry postings about our apple experiment!