February 3

Fruit

Scientists classify fruit as the part of the plant that protects seeds. Yes, that means a tomato is a fruit! Click here to learn the difference between fruits and vegetables.

My kindergarten scientists have studied sink and float concepts periodically since October. This time, we used what we knew about density to hypothesize which fruits would sink and which would float. We learned a lot because our results didn’t always match our hypotheses. We weighed the fruit first, but density and weight are not the same. We recalled what happened last October when we placed a jack-o-lantern pumpkin and a candy pumpkin in the water table. Our original thinking was turned upside down when the big, heavy pumpkin floated and the small, light, candy pumpkin sank. Although the apple and the pear were equal weight, one sank and the other floated. The kiwi was lighter than both, but it sank too. The grape, which was the lightest fruit we tested, sank. The orange floated, but when unpeeled sank. Hmmm…

Extend this activity at home. Select fruit at the grocery store and weigh them on the scale. How are the fruit alike and different? Research to discover the kind of tree or plant on which they grow and where those plants are found. Cut the fruit open and find the seeds. How are they arranged? How many are there? Taste the fruit and plant some of the seeds.

We still had time to travel to the Arctic to see the Northern Lights.We used flashlights to shine light on a CD and a DVD to refract the white light and reveal the colors hidden inside. Click here to learn more about Aurora Borealis.