Apple Fun Facts for Fall (Interactive Notebook Activity)

 

 

1. Did you know that George Washington had apple trees and liked to prune them in his spare time? 

2. The “winter banana” or “melt-in-the-mouth” were terms for apples during colonial days. 

3. Apples float on water because their volume is about 25% air! 

4. The only apple native to North America is the crabapple. 

5. Did you know that the apple is a member of the rose family? Additionally, peaches, plums, cherries and pears are, too 

6. Apples have been eaten by humans since about 6500 BC. Prehistoric people who lived in the country of Switzerland left behind charred apples! 

7. The Pilgrims planted apple trees in Massachusetts Bay Colony. 8. The Chinese word for apple, “ping”, also means “peace”. 

10. Most people eat about 65 apples each year. 

11. In Canada, the national apple is the Macintosh. 

12. Did you know that John Glenn brought along squeezable tubes of applesauce on his flight into orbit? 

13. It is believed that the apple pie was first made in England, about 600 years ago. Specifically, the first mention of an English apple pie was in 1590. The pies didn’t contain sugar. Instead figs and other sweet fruits were added. Apple pies were banned in England for about 16 years. People thought the dessert was too much of a pleasure to eat! 

14. Some historians say ancient Egyptians were eating pies in 9500 BC. 

15. Teenager Kathy Madison, of Rochester, NY, in 1976, created the world’s largest apple PEEL. It was 172 ft. 4 inches long. 

16. The study of apples is called pomology. Apples are part of the rose family. 

 

1.Pretend you are an apple on an apple tree. Tell about a day in your life. What do you see? Hear? Feel? Include 2 facts from the Did You Know? section.
2. Look at a world map and locate these country where apples originated: Turkey, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Armenia. 

3. Illustrate one of these sayings and write a short paragraph explaining what you think the saying means.
A. ”An apple a day, keeps the doctor away.”
B. ”Apple of my eye”. 

C. “A seed hidden in the heart of an apple is an orchard invisible.”
D. “An apple never falls far from the tree.”
E. “Don’t upset the apple cart.”
F. “Sometimes it is better to give your apple away, than to eat it yourself. “
4. Scientist Isaac Newton(1642-1726/7) got his idea about gravity supposedly while sitting under an apple tree reading a book. An apple may have fallen and hit him on the head. That got Newton thinking about gravity and why an apple falls to the ground! Write a diary entry pretending to be Isaac Newton and tell about this day. 

5. Illustrate one of the Did You Know? facts. 

 

Distribute the Did You Know? Facts about Apples and have students do several of the activities. Regroup and discuss what they have learned with the rest of the class. 

My website for teachers/kids has lots of geography activities, short reads, factoids on different topics, news, career surveys, bell ringers and more. Gail Hennessey

Check out my play on John Chapman(Johnny Appleseed):

Note: Other plays in the Ms. Bie Ografee’s Talk Show Series: Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Bessie Coleman Sacagawea, George Washington Carver, Thomas Edison, Martin Luther King, Sequoia, Michelangelo, DaVinci, Tuskegee Airmen, Susan B. Anthony, Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, an interview with a groundhog, an interview with a leprechaun, an interview with Simon, victim of the Black Death, An Interview with Agent 355, a female agent in the Culper Spy Ring(Revolutionary War), Interview with a 49er from the California Gold Rush , Albert Einstein, Rachel Carson, Katherine Johnson and more. 

 

Additional Links for Teachers on the topic of apples: 

 

NOTE: wpclipart.com-Illustration of Johnny Appleseed