Students use apples to learn about world geography.

Objectives:

• The student will be able to locate the United States and New Zealand on the map and the globe.
• The student will be able to identify, describe and illustrate which types of transportation are best suited between the United States and New Zealand.

Materials:

• Brae burn, Fuji, Southern Rose Apples from New Zealand (Usually found in grocery stores during the fall (September and Early October. Keep one of each kept whole to pass around and one of each to cut into chunks.)
• World Map
• Globe
• Writing and Drawing Paper

Plan:

Ask the children:

1. Do you remember where the apples came from that we tasted last week? (We discussed they were from Washington State)
2. Do you know what country is Washington in? (We discussed the week before that it was in the United States)

Say to the children: Last week we tasted apples that were from the United States, but today I have some special apples that came from far, far away. These apples are from an island country called New Zealand. New Zealand is very close to another island country that we just learned about- Can anyone remember what the name of that country is? (Australia) Can someone find New Zealand on the map? (Any volunteer) On the globe? (Another volunteer) If the apple pickers way down in New Zealand wanted to send the apples they grew to the United States how could they get them here? (Listen for answers and record them all on the board. Review each answer and ask the children to decide if that would be an appropriate form of transportation from New Zealand to the U.S.) These are the apples that traveled here from New Zealand, I am going to pass them around so that you can feel how they are similar and how they are different from the apples we grow in the United States. I also have a few cut up into pieces that I would like for you to taste. Once you have tasted the apple, I would like for you to decide which you like the best and write a story about how the apple traveled to the United States. (Write the names of each of the apples on the board.) Look closely at the map or globe and decide which direction would be the best to travel to reach the United States as quickly as possible. Think about things that may have happened along the way and write me a detailed story about the adventures of your traveling apple!

Sharing: Have the children share their stories and pictures with the class and mount onto a sheet of construction paper, laminate and bind into a class book.

The evaluation will involve the students ability to perform the activity and demonstrate concept. Teacher observation and guidance as well as review of the child completed story will also be used to evaluate the success of the lesson.

Comments:

My Personal Reflection:This lesson went very well and I felt that it went smoothly. The next time I teach this lesson, I will allow more time for the tasting portion of the lesson and separate it more from the writing portion. Today we were very pressed for time so I had to continue passing out apple pieces for the students to taste as they were beginning their stories. The only real problem that I had was keeping the children on task. A few of them wanted to draw the pictures before writing their story, which caused them to have incomplete stories. This lesson introduced the children to a common U.S. product that is also produced in another country. I feel that this lesson accomplished what I hoped for in getting them to locate countries on the map and determining appropriate transportation to and from that location depending on the geography and features of the country.

I am a student teacher at the University of South Alabama and hopefully by this time next year I will be in front of my own class!