Dissect a Fruit
Materials:
Nature Journal, drawing utensils of choice, a knife, cutting board, and an apple and/or other fruits and vegetables.
Activity:
Take a fruit and cut it in half. Apples work well for this lesson but any seeding fruit or vegetable will work. Have the children draw the cross-section of the fruit in their nature journals and write down any observations or questions they have. Label the anatomy of the fruit as they ask.
Younger:
Have the younger children draw the fruit whole or in cross-section, however they choose. They may also enjoy collecting a variety of seeds for their collection started in the summer or taping seeds into their nature journals.
Older:
Have older children label the parts of the fruit in their nature journals after making their own observations. Compare these observations to the “Dissect a flower” activity in Spring.
Take it Further:
Do a mini-lesson on the different types of fruits/vegetables (seeded, root, leaf, etc) or since we teach the whole child this would be a great time to talk about the principle of the harvest (You reap what you sow).
Talk about the anatomy of fruit and how it helps seed dispersal. My favorite book for this is called “Fruit is a suitcase for seeds” and it had the kids giggling but also understanding what fruit is.
For younger children, this would be a great time to do an apple or pumpkin unit like the one below by Steph Hathaway Designs. (I’ve included a free apple tasting activity too- just click the image to download it)
Older children may enjoy looking up different varieties of the same fruit and what their differences and history are. I used this book but it is very specific to organic gardening, if you find books on orcharding at your local library you’ll be able to get the info you need for this.
You can also take time to talk about man’s relation to our food where our food comes from, your family’s values about food/diet.
Apple Unit Study by Steph Hathoway Designs
FREE apple tasting activity sheets. Click the photo above.