Over the last couple of weeks, we have made a couple of visits to our adopted class tree: a Ribston Pippin apple tree. By observing our tree throughout the school year, the children will learn about the effects of the changing seasons on the natural world around them.

The children made lots of interesting observations. Leon commented, “I think it’s covered in big juicy apples” and noticed the marks on the top of one of the apples. Mrs Wake explained that, just as boys and girls bruise when they bump into one another, the wind might blow branches into the apples and cause bruising. Edie described the leaf as “green and the edges are a bit spiky”. Coby wondered if “a worm might have bited” one of the apples when he spotted a hole. Toby noticed that the markings on his apple “look like a leaf shape”. When we sliced one apple in half, Darius was quite repulsed; “Ugggh, that’s disgusting!”. Alma enjoyed her apple: “Juicy”. We made leaf rubbings with crayon and apple prints with paint. We all agreed that our tree is beautiful on a sunny day at the end of Summer. We can’t wait to see what happens next.