Science, Tech, Math › Science How Much Water Is In an Apple Print Getty Images/iDymax Science Chemistry Projects & Experiments Basics Chemical Laws Molecules Periodic Table Scientific Method Biochemistry Physical Chemistry Medical Chemistry Chemistry In Everyday Life Famous Chemists Activities for Kids Abbreviations & Acronyms Biology Physics Geology Astronomy Weather & Climate By Amanda Morin Amanda Morin University of Maine Amanda Morin is a freelance writer specializing in child development, parenting, and education. She has 10+ years of experience working with children. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on July 01, 2019 Apple-themed activities don’t have to be limited to art projects for younger children. There are a number of apple-themed science activities that you can do with older children, too. By questioning how much water is in an apple, older kids can learn many science skills and use their reasoning powers. How Much Water Is in An Apple Apples, like many other fruits, have high water content. The following experiment can help your child not only visualize, but also measure, exactly how much water is in an apple. Goal of the Activity To create hypotheses and participate in a science experiment to answer the question "How much water is in an apple?" Skills Targeted Scientific reasoning, scientific method, following an experimental protocol. Materials Needed A food scale or postal scaleAppleKnifeElastic band or a piece of stringApple dehydration log: A sheet of paper or computer spreadsheet with lines for each apple segment, its initial weight, and its weight after two days, four days, six days, etc. Procedure Start the activity by talking about what your child knows about the taste of apples. Different varieties have different flavors, but what do they have in common? One observation may be that they are all juicy. Cut the apple into quarters or eighths and remove the seeds. Weigh each of the apple pieces on the food scale and note the weight on the apple dehydration log, along with a hypothesis of what is going to happen as the pieces of apple are left open to the air. Wrap an elastic band around the apple pieces or tie a piece of string around them. Then, find a place to hang them up to dry out. Note: Putting the apple on a paper plate or paper towel won’t let apple slices dry out evenly. Weigh the apple pieces again in two days, note the weight in the log and rehang to keep drying. Continue weighing the apple every other day for the rest of the week or until the weight no longer changes. Add the beginning weights for all the apple pieces together. Then add the final weights together. Subtract the final weight from the beginning weight. Ask: What’s the difference? How many ounces of the apple weight was water? Ask your child to write that information on the apple dehydration sheet to answer the question: How much water is in an apple? Weights Slice 1 Slice 2 Slice 3 Slice 4 Total Weight Initial Day 2 Day 4 Day 6 Day 8 Day 10 Day 12 Day 14 Final How Much Water Is in an Apple? Initial Minus Final = Water: Further Discussion Questions and Experiments You can ask these questions to stimulate thinking about water in an apple: Do you think drying the apple in a dehydrator to make apple chips would reduce the weight further?What makes apple juice different from water? How much might those ingredients weigh?Would the apple slices take shorter or longer to dry in different places? Discuss the refrigerator, a sunny window, a humid area, a dry area. You may run an experiment changing those conditions.Do thinner slices dry faster than thicker slices and why? Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Morin, Amanda. "How Much Water Is In an Apple." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/how-much-water-is-in-an-apple-2086778. Morin, Amanda. (2020, August 27). How Much Water Is In an Apple. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/how-much-water-is-in-an-apple-2086778 Morin, Amanda. "How Much Water Is In an Apple." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/how-much-water-is-in-an-apple-2086778 (accessed April 26, 2024). copy citation By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies