This activity helps students see that mathematics is connected to other curriculum areas and complements the strands of geometry, measurement, and the mathematics of change.
Students investigate change of mass of the apple as a function of surface area.
They must also consider the effect of the peel. The graphs that the students make can be compared to note the rates of change of mass for each sample. The children were divided into groups. The children first used mathematics balances and gram stackers to find the mass of each apple. They found the mass of the apples each day, recorded their results in their mathematics journals, and used the data to make line graphs to display the change in each apple's mass.