MPES First Graders Study the Most Delicious Science

The first graders in Kerry Clark’s class at Matthew Paterson Elementary School were hard at work cutting apple slices into small squares.  

“I found my first seed,” first grader Elden said. “I am going to plant it and grow it forever.”  

The class was cutting apples to make applesauce. It was the final – and most delicious -- project in the science unit they were studying about apples.    

“It’s part of learning about the season of autumn,” Clark said. “We study the lifecycle of the apple, the parts of the apple and the uses of the apple. We celebrate Johnny Appleseed’s birthday—September 26.”  

Clark also reads to the children and has them paint using sliced apples.  

But the most popular part of the curriculum is making applesauce, Clark said. Several parents came in to help the students cut with the plastic knives. Then the kids lined up to add their diced apples to a crock pot that would fill the room with the wonderful applesauce smell all day long. When the afternoon came around, it was time for the children to enjoy their hard work.  

“When I was one year old, I didn’t like apples,” Sade said. “But when I turned two, I loved them. They are my favorite now.”