This week is Science week and reception year have been busy for the past two weeks keeping a fruit diary. They exploring a question; ‘What happens to fruit when it is left overtime and why?’

First the children made predictions and gave reasons why:

 

Predictions

What will happen to the fruit if we leave it over time?

Gerardas- ‘ They will explode.’

Molly- ‘It will go off.’

Jainil- ‘They will go out of date.’

Ethan- ‘It will be all brown.’

David- ‘They will go black.’

Abi- ‘The fruit will go stale.’

William- ‘It will all be gone and disappear.’

Hollie- ‘You will have to throw it in the bin because it’s disgusting.’

 

Why?

Akorfa- ‘Because it’s expired.’

Alessia- ‘You left it too long.’

Emilia- ‘The time on the package has gone.’

 

Below is the diary of fruit being left for 10 days:

Day 1:

We put fresh fruit in the tray and left it in room temperature.

Day 2, 3 and 4:

The children observed that the fruit still seemed fine and could eat them if they wanted.

Day 5 and 6:

The children observed the fruit today and said:

Joshua: “The fruits all mushy.”

Ronnie: “It’s soft today.”

Antonia: “The banana is going black.”

Day 8 and 9:

The fruit had turned even more black and felt very soft.

Day 10:

The children observed the fruit today and said:

Marcus: “They’ve all gone soft and the banana is black.”

Gerardas: “The cucumber broke in two pieces and it’s all moulded, errr.”

Molly: “It’s all rotten now.”

 

The children were then encouraged to think of reasons why the fruit may have rotted.

What has happened and why?

We spoke about reasons why the fruit has become all mouldy and rotten. We spoke about the gasses and substances in the air which cause this to happen over time.