Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom Apples printable pdf apples peanut butter raisins miniature marshmallows toothpicks licorice or fruit twists Apple Lady Bugs Cut an apple in half. Use 1⁄2 of the apple for the body. Dot peanut butter on apple skin, and place raisins on peanut butter dots for lady bug spots. Use a marshmallow on a toothpick for a head. Use pieces of licorice twist for antennas. WRITING ACTIVITY Use five descriptive words to describe your ladybug. Use these adjectives in sentences. Underline the adjectives.  Ex: My bright red ladybug snack is juicy.  Use a search engine to look up "ladybugs" on the internet. Summarize what you learned. P.A.S.S. Writing— Grade 1: 3.1e. Grade 2: 3.1g. Grade 3: 3.1i. Grade 4: 3.1h 4 apples 1 T lemon juice 3 T water sturdy thread or twine Apple Rings Peel, core and slice the apples into rings about 1/8 inch thick. Mix the lemon juice and water in a shallow dish. Dip each ring into the mixture, then pat dry with a paper towel. String the fruit through the center of each ring. Hang in a dry warm place. The rings will take 1-2 weeks to dry. To expedite the process, dry the apples in a warm oven. Instead of stringing the rings, place them on a wire cooling rack that rests on a baking tray. Put the tray in a 150 degree oven. Allow the rings to dry for about four hours, turning once midway through. When the rings have no moisture left, remove them from the oven. Eat, or cool before placing them in small bags.   The apple tree originated in an area between the Caspian and the Black Sea. Charred apples have been found in prehistoric dwellings in Switzerland. Apples were the favorite fruit of ancient Greeks and Romans. In the US, the Pilgrims planted the first apple trees - in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In colonial time apples were called "winter banana" or "melt-in-the-mouth." Newton Pippin apples were the first apples exported from America in 1768, some were sent to Benjamin Franklin in London. One of George Washington's hobbies was pruning his apple trees. Pomology is the science of apple growing. The apple is a member of the rose family. The top apple-producing states are Washington, New York, Michigan, California, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The average size of an apple orchard in the US is 50 acres. The world's top apple producers are China, the US, Turkey, Poland and Italy. Apple trees take four to five years to produce their first fruit. Most apples are still picked by hand in the fall. Apples harvested from an average tree can fill 20 boxes that weigh 42 pounds each. The largest apple picked weighed three pounds. Some apple trees will grown over 40 feet high and live over 100 years. It takes the energy from 50 leaves to produce one apple. Apples are fat-, sodium-, and cholesterol-free and are a great source of pectin, a fiber. A medium apples is about 80 calories and has five grams of fiber. Americans eat 19.6 pounds or about 65 fresh apples every year. Europeans eat about 46 pounds of apples annually. Back to Food Back to Food and Fun Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.