With the weather growing brisk and the leaves turning colors, fall is officially in the air. At Commack Road Elementary School, the fourth-grade students in Joan Munson’s class used one of fall’s favorite fruits – the apple – to combine their English, science, and math skills in a fun and healthy lesson. Together, the students took six different apple varieties and listed their properties, including taste, texture, and consistency, before graphing their favorite.

“This lesson is a great way for the students to review the properties of science and utilize their mathematical graphing capabilities,” stated Ms. Munson. “Plus, they love the hands-on aspect.”

Prior to the taste test, the students read “How Do Apples Grow?” by Betsy Maestro to learn about the parts of the flower as well as the process of fertilization. Once all of the graphing was complete, the results were almost unanimous – Honeycrisp apples were the landslide favorite of Ms. Munson’s fourth-grade class!