Apple Varieties with Colors of the Fruit Ranging from Various Shades of Red to Green and Yellow

Apples are one of the most popular and important fruits that grow on trees. Apple trees are a member of the rose family. There are hundreds of different apple varieties with colors of the fruit ranging from various shades of red to green and yellow. The flavor of apples also varies from tart to sweet. Apples are about 85 percent water and contain vitamins A and C, potassium, pectin, and fiber.

Over half the apples grown (two billion bushels throughout the world) are eaten fresh. The remainder is baked into pies and other dishes and are used to make apple butter, apple juice, applesauce, jelly, and wine. Apple juice may be further processed into vinegar. Most apple products are canned or bottled, dried, or frozen.

The History of Apples

The first trees to produce sweet, flavorful apples similar to those we enjoy today, were located many thousands of years ago near the modern city of Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan.

The Greeks were growing several varieties of apples by the late 300’s BC, and the ancient Romans also grew and loved the fruit. Researchers have even found the charred remains of apples at a Stone Age village in Switzerland.

European settlers brought apple seeds and trees with them to the New World. Records from the Massachusetts Bay Company indicate that apples were being grown in New England as early as 1630. In 1796, in Ontario, Canada, John McIntosh discovered a variety of apple which is today enjoyed by people around the world--the McIntosh Apple!

Apples have also appeared in legends in our past. In the Bible, Adam and Eve are tempted by apples in the Garden of Eden, and in the Swiss story of William Tell, an archer is arrested and then promised his freedom if he can shoot an apple off his son’s head with an arrow.

Americans have a favorite story about a pioneer apple farmer named John Chapman, from Leominster, Massachusetts. Chapman, now known to many as "Johnny Appleseed", became famous in the 1800’s when he distributed apple seeds and trees to settlers in the American states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Legend claims that Appleseed traveled barefoot wearing old torn clothes and a tin pot for a hat! Johnny Appleseed is celebrated in American folklore as a symbol of the westward-moving expansion of the European settlers.

Each day, apples are enjoyed by people in every country, and are the world's most popular fruit!

Why You Should Love Apples!

• They’re tasty and good for you. • They don’t leave a slippery peel behind--like bananas do. • It takes a long time for apples to go bad, so they’re perfect for lunches, long hikes, or the bus ride home from school. • Unlike oranges, apples don’t make your fingers stink. • Apples won’t make you fat. • An apple a day keeps the doctor way! • Easy, portable snack. • You can make a zillion other foods out of apples, like apple pie, apple sauce, candy apples, apple juice, and—ummmm--fried apples.

No young person’s lunch is complete unless there’s an apple in it!!! APPLES ARE GOOD

FOR YOU!

Both the American Produce for Better Health Foundation and the National Cancer Institute of America recommend a minimum of 5 servings of fruit per day to maintain a healthy diet.

Part of this should definitely be composed of yummy apples!

And since this is the recommended minimum--why not eat more?

Believe it or not, 1 medium-sized apple:

• Contains no fat, cholesterol, or sodium (salt). • Gives you more fiber than a serving of oatmeal.

GO EAT AN APPLE!!!

Apple Varieties

Apples come in thousands of varieties, sizes, textures, and tastes.

The color of the outside of an apple may be green, yellow, or various shades of red. Some yellow apples have weird brown spots all over them, while some red apples, like the Jonathan, have even weirder white spots! Apple colors also differ on the inside, where the flesh may be yellow, white, or cream-colored. It's also interesting that apples will turn brown if you cut them open and leave them out for a couple of hours.

Each variety of apple has a slightly different flavor, from sweet, to tart, to bitter, to—ummmm--just right!

Textures also vary amongst apple varieties, from soft and mushy, to firm and crunchy.

Because there are so many different varieties of apple, each with slightly different qualities than the next, producers grow different types of apples for different purposes. Some apples, like the Empire, are sweet and wonderful when eaten fresh (in fact, of all the cultivated apples grown, over half are eaten fresh). Other apple varieties are better suited for cooking or further processing. The Rome Beauty, for example, is often used for baking and not eaten fresh because it has a firm, acidic flesh, and tough, smooth skin.

Which Apple to Use?

Variety Fresh Salads Pies Baked Sauce

Red Delicious x x

Jonathan x x x x x

Cortland/Redcort x x x x x

Golden Delicious x x x x x

McIntosh x x x x x

Ida Red x x x x x

Rome x x x x

Northern Spy x x x x

Empire x x x x x

Paula Red x x x x x

Stayman/Winesap x x x x x

Gala x x x x x

Jonagold x x x x x

Fuji x x x x x

Braeburn x x x x x

Ginger Gold x x x x x

Spartan x x x x x

Honeycrisp x x x x x

Jonamac x x x x x

Crispin/Mutsu x x x x x

Apples: A Class Act! Published by The U.S. Apple Association Grades: Preschool - 3 Apples, Tasty and Nutritious

pples are one of the most popular, flavorful and methods to produce the best tasting, best-formed apples pos- healthful fruits grown in the world. Three-fourths of sible. It takes about four to five years for apple trees to pro- AAmerica’s population, both young and old, name duce their first fruit. Apple trees are grown on farms, better apples as one of their favorite fruits for snacking. They are known as apple orchards. In spring apple trees blossom with also great with meals. Apples and processed apple foods are fragrant, sweet-smelling white flowers. When the blossoms a great way to help children get the recommended five serv- fall off the pollinated flowers, baby apples begin to grow in ings of fruits and vegetables daily, for their better health. their place. Apple growing is an important industry in America. The The apple crop is harvested in the fall, when the apples state of Washington ranks first in the number of bushels are fully grown and ripened. The nation’s apple crop is picked grown, followed by New York, Michigan, California and from the trees by hand, then washed, packed and delivered by many other states. Worldwide, the United States ranks second refrigerated trains and trucks to markets and grocery stores, or to the People’s Republic of China in apple production. made into apple juice, apple cider, apple butter, applesauce The first U.S. apple trees were planted by pilgrims in the and other nutritious apple foods. Massachusetts Bay Colony. In the early 1800s John About 2,500 varieties of apples are grown throughout the Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, traveled across United States. The top 10 apple varieties are: Red Delicious, the Ohio Valley carrying bags of apple seeds. As he ventured Golden Delicious, Fuji, Granny Smith, Rome, McIntosh, westward, he planted seeds and grew apple trees wherever he York, Idared and Jonathan. roamed to ensure that settlers living in the Western frontier Apples and children go together naturally. We hope you would have nutritious apples to eat. find these ideas helpful in teaching your students about nutri- Today, the science of apple growing is called pomology. tious, delicious, versatile apples, and the apple industry. Over the years, many people have worked together to refine Core Facts About Apples and Nutrition Apples are an easy way to eat more fruits and A medium-sized apple (5.5 ounces or 154 vegetables each day. grams, the size of a tennis ball):

1. Apples come in many va rieties Ð Apples ¥ Contains no fat, and contains no come in a range of interesting flavors, saturated fat Ð helps reduce risk of cancer. offering a variety not available in most ¥ Contains no sodium Ð helps reduce risk other fruits and vegetables. of high blood pressure. ¥ Is an excellent source of fiber Ð helps 2. Apples are convenient Ð Mother Nature’s reduce cholesterol and may help prevent original fast foods, they can be eaten fresh certain types of cancer. or processed as sauce, juice and slices. ¥ Has only 80 calories. ¥ Contains no cholesterol. 3. Apples are nutritious Ð Apples are a very ¥ Contains no artificial colors or flavors. good fruit for building healthy bodies. APPLE PROJECTS

“5 A Day” And Apples The Food Guide Pyramid advises us on what types of food, and how much of each food type, we should eat each day for better health. It recommends that we eat at least five serv- no fat ings of produce each day Ð two servings of fruits like apples, no and three of vegetables. cholesterol Talk with children about: ¥ What foods does the Pyramid recommend we should eat the most of? The least of? cancer no convenient fighter sodium ¥ How do the foods we eat keep us healthy? e.g., only 80 controlling weight, having plenty of energy, reducing dis- calories ease risk. natural ¥ How can we get our “5 A Day” with apples, at meal and

colors sugars snack time? no artificial fiber ¥ What counts as a serving of apple? (one tennis-ball sized apple; 6 ounces of 100% apple juice or cider; 2 cup of versatile applesauce; 4 cup of dried apples)

Healthy Bites Prepare a large diagram of an apple showing “bite-size” segments about apple nutrition. Give each student a fresh apple. (Be sure to use a variety of red, gold and green!) As students take bites of their apples, discuss the different ways apples are healthy for them.

Nutrition Description Apples have… Apples do this for me:

No fat Keeps me trim No sodium Healthy blood pressure How Many Apple Foods Do No cholesterol Keeps cholesterol down You Eat Each Day? Write large block numbers on a sheet of mural paper. Tie Fiber Keeps heart healthy a marker to a long piece of yarn and tape it beside each numeral. Have each student take turns recording his/her name inside Only 80 calories Fights cancer the numeral that indicates the number of apple foods eaten daily. Discuss the variety of ways they enjoyed apples and Write these columns on the chalkboard, and ask students to apple products. match each component from the first column with its function listed in the second column.

Picture of Health After explaining to the class why apples and apple products help build healthy bodies, have each student draw what they think a boy or girl who eats apples daily might look like. Then have them draw a boy or girl who never eats apples. Which of the two looks healthier? Why?

2 Apple Journals – Apple Puppets Informational Writing Give each student materials Include 5-10 blank pages inside an apple-shaped book for to make a favorite-colored apple each student. Have them draw/write in their journal whenever to glue onto the bottom fold of a new information is learned, discussed or researched. Time should closed paper bag. Have students be given periodically for students to share their journal entries work in pairs or small groups, with their friends and teacher. and speak through their puppets to share apple knowledge. Apples Make Us

crunchy healthy Think Of… red trees To develop a cluster of apple delicious fruit words, ask students, “What do you pie sweet think of when you hear the word green juicy ‘apples’?” Record their responses on orchards yummy chart paper. Apple Parts Prepare a chart which shows the parts of an apple. Print the name of each apple part on separate cards. Have An Apple Web students match the word cards to the correct apple part on Have students organize apple information by involving them the chart. in a webbing activity. Draw an apple on the board or chart paper and label it with specific topics related to apples. Record student leaves responses under each topic heading. The web could be used to generate ideas for informational writing in journals, class books, or at a writing center. stem Parts Kinds ¥ flesh ¥ McIntosh ¥ core flesh ¥ Granny Smith Products core ¥ juice ¥ pie Healthy seeds Taste ¥ fiber ¥ sweet ¥ vitamins ¥ tart skin

Map of Apple-Growing States

Mix up salt/flour/water mixture for students to use in molding a map that shows the apple growing states. Paper apples could be attached to the map to designate these states.

Apples: A Class Act (Grades P-3) is published by the U.S. Apple Association. All articles and artwork may be reprinted without permission. If you would like additional information, contact: U.S. Apple Association 8233 Old Courthouse Road, Suite 200 Vienna, VA 22182-3816 (703) 442-8850 www.usapple.org 3 Apple Tasting Party Apple Orchard Select a variety of apples that vary in color, taste, texture and Create an apple orchard bulletin board display! Place size. Encourage students to compare and discuss the different three bare paper trees on the board Ð one for red apples, the and/or similar characteristics after they have observed and tasted others for gold and green. Give each student a dessert-sized a wedge of each apple. Have students indicate their favorites on paper plate, green for leaves, brown paper for a stem and a a Favorite Apple Graph. choice of red, yellow or green one-inch stack of tissue paper squares. Each student writes one or more things he/she learned about apples inside the paper plate, then glue the tissue squares flat all around the ridge of the plate. A stem and Apple torn-paper leaves are added to complete the apple. Hang apples in the trees. Have students make additional torn paper Products leaves to cover the branches. Have the Apple Products: students brainstorm to generate a list of favorite ¥ pie ¥ juice Apple Sponge Prints foods that are made from ¥ cookies ¥ cider Have each student cut out an apple from a 12”x12” piece apples. Record their ¥ slices ¥ pancakes of white paper. Then dip sponges cut into apple shapes in responses, and leave the either red, green or yellow tempera paint, and sponge paint a fritters cobbler chart up as a visual model ¥ ¥ border around their paper apple. When dry, have students for future reference. ¥ applesauce color in stems and leaves. Apple information is written inside the apples. After the apple information is shared, all apples can be Apple Cinquain combined into a After observing, discussing, reading and writing about class book of apples, students might enjoy writing apple cinquains: apple facts. 1st line is one word which names the topic 2nd line is two words which describes the topic Apples are very 3rd line is three words that tell what the topic does nutritious and (action words) delicious! Yummy! 4th line is four words that tell something that the topic does (starts with an action word) 5th line is one word that best describes (or is a synonym for) word in the 1st line

For example: Apple Apple Puzzles Juicy, sweet Draw and cut out a large red, yellow and green apple. Grows, ripes, harvested Cut each apple into four or five pieces. Put each set of apple pieces for one apple in a separate envelope. Have students Keeps children healthy solve the puzzles by fitting the pieces back together again. Nutritious Students might enjoy drawing and cutting their own apples into puzzles for others to fit together.

Apple Patterning Have students dip apple-shaped sponges into red, green and/or yellow tempera paint to create a pattern of colored apple patterns on a 4”x18” strip of white paper. When dry, the apple patterns can be shared and used as bulletin board borders.

4 Apple Pie Center Cut out ten brown paper circles for pie crusts. Label each pie crust with a numeral from 1Ð10. Cut several apples into slices. Have students make apple pies by matching the correct number of apple slices to the corresponding number on Math Exercises the pie crust. Jack, Won and Aisha picked a total of 9 apples. How many will each have if they share equally? Jonathan wanted 4 apples, but he only had 2. How many more will he need? If we picked 8 apples from each of 7 trees in a orchard, how Apple Accordion-Fold Book many apples would we have? Have students work in cooperative learning groups to create apple accordion-fold books. Each group will use their apple knowledge to choose one specific apple topic. Unscramble the Top Members within each group will assume different roles to Ten Apple Names draft, revise, illustrate and assemble the book. Each group can share their book with others. (Some topics chosen might JIUF (FUJI) be: Apple Nutrition, Apple Growing, An Apple Tree Through the Seasons, Apple Products.) DDRIAE (IDARED) DRE UOELIDCIS (RED DELICIOUS) Apples are They are They They have Eat two or KORY (YORK) very good free contain only 80 more Apple LAAG (GALA) for you of fat lots of fiber calories apple Nutrition products NNGARY HMSTI (GRANNY SMITH) each day CIMTNHSO (MCINTOSH) OMER (ROME) DNGEOL CSIDLEOUI (GOLDEN DELICIOUS) Our Favorite Apple AJOTNNAH (JONATHAN) Colors Graph Prepare a chart showing a red, gold and green apple. Johnny Appleseed Have each student write his/her name on a 2”x6” strip of paper. After the choose their favorite apple color, take turns After reading your taping their names under the corresponding apples on the class the book Johnny graph. Ask Comparison questions: Appleseed by Steven How many choose red? Gold? Green? Kellogg, have students ¥ Which is the favorite? draw or write about their ¥ favorite parts. After they have shared their drafts, have students participate Apple Book Nook in placing them in a Develop an area in the classroom that contains a variety sequential story by event of books on apples for reading enjoyment and research. order. The drafts could Encourage oral language development by having students then be bound into a class tell a classmate reasons that they liked the books they chose. book and placed in the These books might be included in the Apple Book Nook: classroom library for The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein future enjoyment. ¥ ¥ 10 Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss Apple Quotes ¥ Johnny Appleseed by Steven Kellogg After share-reading these few favorite apple clichés, ask stu- ¥ From Appleseed to Applesauce by Hanna Johnson dents to compose a few of their own. ¥ An Apple a Day by Judi Barrett ¥ AN APPLE A DAY KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY ¥ Apple Tree! Apple Tree! By Mary Blocksma ¥ A IS FOR APPLE ¥ Apple Pigs by Ruth Orbach ¥ AS AMERICAN AS APPLE PIE ¥ Apple Pie by Anne Wellington ¥ THE BIG APPLE ¥ Apples to Zippers by Patricia Rueben ¥ THE APPLE OF MY EYE ¥ AN APPLE FOR THE TEACHER 5 Start at any letter and move Word Search clockwise around the apple to find six words that name Yummy Apple Products parts of an apple. slices fritters apple butter OBP ANCAKES P E applesauce dumpling C AKELEAYMI AL jelly OADUMPLI NGP P Hunt for Apple Parts cider BPOTLLZBTCPP BPBREADRROLA STEM______cake pie LLI J UI CEHOED LEAVES______juice EENEKFDI GKBE SKIN ______cobbler RSMSLI CESI UK muffins C AVECOUTCETA FLESH ______strudel MU FFI NSBOSTB CORE ______pancakes LCVATS TRUDEL TEKBFRI TTERS SEEDS ______baked apple cookies bread (solution below)

Favorite Apple Products Chart Apple Poetry Brainstorm with students a list of five or six apple products. Write and illustrate these choices on the chart. Have each child Give me an A make an apple to glue on the graph to indicate his/her favorite Give me a P apple product. Ask comparison questions to discuss the results. Give me a P, L, E. APPLES are the food for me!

Apples are the snack for me. I can count them 1, 2, 3! applesauce pie juice cider Apple juice is good for me It gives me energy There’s no sugar, it’s naturally sweet. It’s one of my applicious treats!

Apples are the fruit for you, Nutritious and delicious too. Try having at least two each day, For healthy bodies, Hip, hip, hooray! Word Search Bake them, Pie them, Solution Sauce them, Too! Fry them, Dice them, Slice them, CHOOSE!