A Teaching Resource for the MSCO!

Objective: Explore the orchard to find different types of apples, berries, and native pollinator plants.

Activity: Create a checklist of things to find, such as specific apple varieties, berry species, native plants, and different pollinators (bees, butterflies, hummingbirds). Students can mark off each item as they discover it.

Skills: Observation, species identification, teamwork.

Objective: Document the growth and changes in apple trees throughout the year.

Activity: Assign each student a specific tree to observe and sketch each season. Students can measure its height, note the number of apples, describe its leaves and blossoms, and track changes in pollinator activity.

Skills: Science journaling, seasonal awareness, measurement.

Objective: Design a pollinator garden to support the orchard’s ecosystem.

Activity: Research native plants that attract pollinators and sketch a garden layout. Students must consider plant variety, blooming seasons, and how the garden can support pollinators throughout the year.

Skills: Ecology, garden design, research.

Objective: Compare different apple varieties and analyze preferences.

Activity: Have students taste several types of apples (e.g., Crimson Crisp, Gala, Pixie Crunch) and rank them based on sweetness, texture, and flavor. Create a class chart or graph to display the results.

Skills: Data collection, graphing, sensory analysis.

Objective: Understand the life cycle of an apple tree.

Activity: Students will create models (using paper, clay , or other materials) showing the life cycle stages of an apple tree—from seed to sprout, blossom, and mature fruit-bearing tree. Include stages where pollinators play a role.

Skills: Model building, understanding biological cycles.

Objective: Learn which pollinators are attracted to specific plants.

Activity: Create a matching game where students pair pollinators (bees, butterflies, hummingbirds) with the correct plants (apple blossoms, berry flowers, native flowers like milkweed or coneflowers). Discuss why certain pollinators prefer certain plants.

Skills: Ecology, species interaction, critical thinking.

Objective: Learn about the different types of berries and where they are grown.

Activity: Research and map out where different types of berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc.) are cultivated around the world. Discuss why certain climates are better suited for berry production.

Skills: Geography, research, global awareness.

Objective: Understand the relationship between plants and pollinators.

Activity: Organize a role-playing game where students act as different pollinators (bees, butterflies, etc.) and “visit” plants (represented by stations with pictures or models of flowers). Discuss how each pollinator helps with the process of pollination.

Skills: Active learning, understanding ecosystems, teamwork.

Objective: Create a visual representation of the orchard ecosystem.

Activity: Build a diorama of an orchard that includes apple trees, berry bushes, and native plants, along with pollinators. Use natural materials like leaves, twigs, and seeds. Highlight how each component contributes to the overall ecosystem.

Skills: Ecosystem modeling, creativity, collaboration.

Objective: Explore how seasons affect the orchard and its pollinators.

Activity: Track the changes in the orchard across seasons. Focus on the availability of flowers for pollinators, how tree and plant growth vary, and when fruit ripens. Create a class timeline showing the seasonal stages.

Skills: Seasonal observation, critical thinking, ecology.

Objective: Share stories about the orchard and its history.

Activity: Create a storytelling circle where students research and tell stories about the orchard—its history, the role of pollinators, the significance of apples and berries in local culture, and traditional uses of native plants.

Skills: Oral storytelling, research, cultural appreciation.

 Pollinator plants play a crucial role in the health and productivity of the orchard. Mary Scott includes native pollinator-friendly plants, such as Milkweed, which features distinctive blooms that attract vital pollinators like bees and moths. The seeds of the Milkweed are small, black, and attached to silky strands, allowing them to be easily carried by the wind and dispersed across the landscape 

Without pollinators, the trees and berry plants would never make it past the flowering stage and so would not be able to produce any fruit. A pollinator garden ensures that a lot of pollinators are around and that all the fruit-bearing plants are pollinated.

Plants take from the soil, but also give back to it through the materials that pass through them and into the soil. This is a complementary form of co-dependence that works better for everyone!

A prairie-style pollinator garden is as close to what nature would look like unspoiled, as is possible. Each of the plants chosen contributes something unique through a variety of features like height, water usage, wind protection, soil replenishment, and the list goes on and on.

Based on thirty apple trees and forty berry plant, how much fruit could the orchard produce per year? 

Can you predict which trees are likely to produce the greatest yield? Does it depend on size, variety, other factors? Investigate and make a prediction.

The pollinator plants are located in one spot. What effect do you thihk this tight space has on how the plants grow? What percentage of the plants grow to full maturity each year?

Based on the observations of one or more plants, can you make a prediction for how many berries it would produce across an entire growing season?

The flowers in the pollinator garden are each unique. Each plant has its own symmetry. How many petals do you see on each flower? How do you think that helps the plant?

Objective: Create poetry inspired by the orchard environment.

Activity: After visiting the orchard, students write poems inspired by the sights, smells, and sounds of the apple trees, berries, and pollinators. They can use forms such as haikus, acrostics, or free verse.

Skills: Creative writing, sensory awareness, environmental appreciation.

 Write a short story about a leaf falling from a tree. 

 What can we do to better protect our natural world?

Write about your favorite thing that lives outside. It can be a flower, an animal, a vegetable, etc. 

Pick a spot to sit in the orchard and just watch for a few minutes. What do you see happening? Imagine that as the center of the world. Tell us what is going on!

Write a story or poem in which nature is the main character rather than just a setting. 

Throughout the world, there are many trees that have stood in the same place for hundreds of years. Write a story about all of the historic events and changes in society that one of these trees has seen.