What better way to celebrate fall than with some delicious apples? Did you know there are over 7,500 varieties of apples worldwide? I’m sure you can find many cultivars in your local grocery store.
We took a trip to our local market and came home with one each of nine different varieties of apples. With our hands on some apples, we decided to do a taste test, gather some data, and graph that information.
Supplies needed:
- several varieties of apples, be sure to make a note of their names!
- data collection sheet
- colored pencils
- paper plates
- paring knife
- cutting board
Pass around each variety of apple. Observe its color, size and shape. Make predictions about how you think it will taste.
Slice each apple. Be sure to keep track of which is which! We put the sticker from each apple onto a paper plate so we could identify each type.
Taste a slice of each apple. Rate the flavor and crunchiness of each one. Use a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best and 1 being the worst.
Once you have enjoyed all your apples, it’s time to compile your data! Add up the points for each apple (for flavor and for crunchiness).
Draw a bar graph! Which apple is has the best flavor? Which apple is the most crunchy?
After we made a bar graph, I opened my favorite word processing program on the computer and showed my children how to create a graph there as well. We tried several formats and they decided on a bar graph showing both flavor and crunchiness ratings for each apple.
This activity was so much fun that the kids didn’t even know they were doing math! We just love hands-on homeschooling!
This article was originally published in October 2013 by Home & School Mosaics.
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