DARKE COUNTY – On October 8, The Ohio State University Darke County Extension celebrated Great Apple Crunch Day with students at Tri-Village Elementary School and Arcanum School. The educational outreach program reached approximately 475 students in grades 2nd through 5th, providing hands-on learning opportunities about apples, agriculture, nutrition, and the many ways agriculture impacts everyday life.
Great Apple Crunch Day, celebrated in conjunction with National Crunch Your Apple Day, provided an opportunity for students to learn more about one of Ohio’s important agricultural products while enjoying a fresh apple.
The program began at Tri-Village Elementary School, where approximately 120 students in third and fifth grades participated. The team then traveled to Arcanum School, where approximately 355 students in second through fifth grades took part in the activities.
The Ohio State University Darke County Extension staff of Caden Buschur, Mercedes McFarland and Jessica Fisher conducted the program which introduced students to the work of Ohio State University Extension and its educational programming. Students learned about 4-H youth development, including the more than 200 projects available to young people, ranging from livestock and cooking to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), woodworking, and self-determined projects. Students also learned about Extension’s agriculture and natural resources programming and its family and consumer sciences education, which supports healthy finances, nutrition, and family well-being.
The Ohio State University Darke County Extension staff continued to educate the elementary students with Apple trivia and helped students discover interesting facts about apples, including where they are grown, how they are harvested, the role of bees in pollination, and why apples float in water. Students also learned about Ohio’s apple production and the importance of pollination to apples and many other crops.
Additional presentations explored how apple growers select and grow apples, the conditions needed for healthy apple trees, and how grafting is used in apple production. Students learned about the apple life cycle, the different parts of an apple, the nutritional benefits of apples, and the many ways apples are used in foods and other products. Scott Downing of Downing Fruit Farm provided additional information about apples at Tri-Village Elementary. Downing Fruit Farms also provided apples that were given to the elementary children at Tri-Village and Arcanum Elementary.
The program concluded with students receiving apples, informational goodie bags, and a donated book to take back to their classrooms or school libraries. The activities encouraged students to continue learning about agriculture and the foods they eat every day.
