Apple Graphing Activity for Preschool: Apple Taste Test and Graph

Apple Graphing Activity for Preschool: Apple Taste Test and Graph
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Graphing Apples

With the arrival of autumn comes the crisp air, colorful leaves and the apple harvest! It’s the perfect time for a fun prekindergarten graphing activity that is visually exciting for your preschool students and is a great way to display a math lesson for curious parents.

Objective: Introduce children to collecting and organizing data, reading and understanding the results using a graph.

Materials:

  • apples of three different colors (red, green, yellow)
  • small paper plates
  • knife for cutting apples
  • two large pieces of butcher paper or paper large enough to display on the wall (3’ x 5’) - one will be for the graph, the other will be to record your discussion
  • paper cut into apple shapes in red, green and yellow (enough for the whole class)
  • tape
  • marker or crayons

Supporting Books:

  • Ten Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss
  • The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons
  • The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall and Shari Halpern

Preparation:

  • Draw a graph on the large paper with the colors RED, GREEN, YELLOW written on the bottom and the number of students on the side. Write each color using a marker the same color - for example, green will be written with a green marker, yellow with a yellow marker, etc.
  • Cut the apples into bite size chunks and place one of each color on each plate (so there will be three pieces per plate).
  • Cut out apple shapes from colored construction paper in red, yellow and green. There should be enough for each child to have one of every color.

After reading the book(s) about apples tell the students that they will be conducting a survey. A survey simply means that we will be collecting or gathering information. They will have a taste test and using math to show the results. Show them three solid (uncut) apples and ask them to identify the colors. How will they taste? Will they have a smell? What will they feel like in our mouths? Will they taste the same? Why or why not? Which apple do you think you’ll like the best? Write the answers on the extra large piece of paper.

Now show them the plate with the three pieces of apple. Explain that everyone is expected to taste each different apple and decide with one they prefer. They will keep track of the results by using a bar graph. When they’ve decided on their apple, they can come up to the graph and (with the help of the teacher) pick a paper apple to match their choice and stick it onto the chart.

*If you’d like to add an extra challenge, have the children can write their own names on the apple they’ve chosen. An alternative would be to write just the first letter of their name. You can also write their name in pencil and have them trace over the letters.