Purple Cluster students in Head Teacher Kristin Paresi and Assistant Teacher Reshmi Nair’s class had their own apple adventure this year.
Students learned all about apples, from how they grow to where you buy them, as part of their science curriculum.
Ms. Paresi said the curriculum centers on the essential question: what is a living thing and how can we take care of it?
“It is important for the students to recognize living things in the world around them, and learn about the function of different parts of fruit,” she said.
“Throughout the year we learn about different living things, starting first with identifying the components of a living thing, and then sorting between living and nonliving things,” she said. “At the same time, we are also learning about the seasons of the year and how the weather affects living things, including us. That brings us to apples and apple picking, which are a very popular fall fruit and activity.”
To begin the lesson, the class read the book “Apple Farmer Annie” by Monica Wellington, learning about how and where apples grow and the different places you can buy them.
Students then hung apples up around their classroom and pretended to be apple pickers who sell apples to the shopkeepers, shopkeepers who sell the apples to customers, and customers who enjoy the delicious apples.
After this, the class went on a community walk to the local fruit stand and picked three different kinds of apples: red, yellow, and Gala.
Ms. Paresi said this lesson is important because it is a multisensory way to understand how the food we need to eat gets from the farm to the table.
Ms. Paresi said the students enjoyed the community walk around the neighborhood to buy apples themselves.
“They showed incredible responsibility and took ownership of the apples when we used them in science and tried them as snacks!” she said. “Learning about local spots in our neighborhood also fosters a connection to the greater community they are a part of, a topic we explore in social studies.”