We are lucky to have a golden delicious apple tree on our school grounds.  It is old and gnarly and the apples are wormy.  Each year, though, the kids declare they are the best apples they have ever tasted in spite of the fact that they look nothing like the golden delicious they see at the supermarket. (I recently met a lady in her 40's who remembered when her class planted about half a dozen apple trees on the school ground on Arbor Day.  Ours is the last to survive.)

We use the apple tree in the apple segment that is favored by first grade teachers.  There are many ways you can use such a resource, we use ours to discuss science topics of sources of food, apples as a living resource, and seasonal changes of the apple tree.  Click here for the Apple Tree lesson plan.

They review what they have learned about the needs of living things.

Living organisms (including plants) need air, water, food, living space, and shelter to live. 

Once they locate the tree, the class is divided into 3-4 groups depending on the number of adults there are to help.