Apple Superheroes Webquest

1. Identify, sequence, and illustrate what an apple tree looks like in each season

As a class, read the book The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons
Using RESOURCE 1, you will identify what an apple tree looks like as it changes from Winter through fall.
Using RESOURCE 2, you will complete the booklet by labeling what season the apple tree is in. When you are finished labeling the seasons, you will sequence them in the proper order by cutting the page apart to make a booklet. Take the booklet home and read it to a family member, explaining what happens to an apple tree in each of the seasons.
Using RESOURCE 3 and crayons, you will illustrate what an apple tree looks like through the seasons. Be sure to include the blooms, flowers, small green apples, and full-sized apples in your illustrations!

2. Name, identify, and label the parts of an apple

As a class, read Apples by Gail Gibbons
Using RESOURCE 4, you will watch a short video discussing the parts of an apple and how they make the apple tree grow
Using RESOURCE 5, you will discuss and identify the parts of an apple with a partner
Using RESOURCE 6, you will correctly label the parts of an apple

3. Explore an apple orchard

As a class, read Up, Up, Up! It's Apple Picking Time by Jodie Fickes Shapiro
As a class, take a field trip to Milburn Orchards
Explore the Orchard by looking at how the apples are growing on the trees, smelling the apple aroma, and referring to the parts of the apples by restating the vocabulary that you learned from Task 2

4. Interview a worker about how apple trees help our environment (insects - pollination; animals - nests, food, fertilizer; and air quality)

As a class, read the book How Do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro
As a class, use RESOURCE 7 to listen to the interactive story From Tree to You: A Listen and Read Book
As a class, we will brainstorm questions to ask a Milburn worker about why apples are important to the environment (Such as: Are apples nutritious? Why do bees fly around apple trees - are they helping? Who eats the apples besides us? What are important about apple trees? Do apple trees help the environment?)
Next, we will ask these six questions to a worker from Milburn and write down the responses
When we return from the field trip, we will discuss the answers as a class and put them into RESOURCE 8 (graphic organizer)

5. Collect and sample apples from an apple orchard

As a class, read A Day at the Apple Orchard by Megan Faulkner
On the field trip to Milburn Orchards, you will collect at least two different varieties of apples
You will taste those apples and discuss the color, texture, smell, and taste of your favorite apple with a partner

6. Investigate ways to use apples in cooking and prepare your favorite recipe

As a class, read The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall
Explore the recipes in RESOURCE 9 and choose your favorite to make at home with your family
Create a journal entry about your cooking experience. Why did you choose that recipe? Who helped you? What did it taste like? Use RESOURCE 10 as your journal paper. Pictures and samples for the class may be included

7. Write a persuasive letter to Farmer Mack arguing the important reasons that the apple trees should stay

For your final task, you will use all of your Apple Superhero knowledge in order to help your classmates write a persuasive letter to Farmer Mack.
Keep these questions in mind when you contribute to the letter: Why is it so important for Farmer Mack to keep his apple trees?, Who would it affect if he chopped them down?, What do apple trees do for us, animals, insects, and the environment?
In a small group of five students, you will contribute as many facts as you can remember to the writing of the letter. Remember - it's your job to save the apple trees so be sure to include all of the most important things you have learned in order to convince Farmer Mack to keep them!
Read the letter from Farmer Mack to hear his decision about the apple trees in RESOURCE 11