yakima valley museum an educational handbookyakimavalleymuseum.org/apple/applebook.pdf · an...

An educational handbookproduced as a teacher’s guide for the exhibit

Yakima’s Love Affair With The AppleMade possible through a grant from the Washington Apple Education Foundation

Yakima Valley Museum

Contents

An Apple for the Teacher ............................................................................................. 1Information about visiting the museum .............................................................. 1

Preparing for your museum experience .......................................................... 2The museum and school as partners............................................................... 2Planning, Scheduling and Check lists .............................................................. 3

Comparing Apples and Oranges .................................................................................. 4Preliminary Activities ........................................................................................... 4What is an apple anyway? ................................................................................... 5

What is the difference between fruits and vegetables? ................................. 5Where are fruits grown? .................................................................................. 5Learning where fruits grow - Activity #1......................................................... 6

The Star in the Orchard ....................................................................................... 7Fruit Printing - Activity #2 .................................................................................... 8Busy as a bee ....................................................................................................... 9

I’m stuck on you - Activity #3.......................................................................... 9Bee bits ............................................................................................................ 9None of your Beeswax - Activity #4 ................................................................ 9

Apple Label Coloring Sheets - Activity #5 ........................................................ 10The Journey of an Apple ............................................................................................. 12

The exhibit ..................................................................................................... 12Irrigation ............................................................................................................ 13Planting .............................................................................................................. 15Growing.............................................................................................................. 15Pollination .......................................................................................................... 16Thinning and pruning ........................................................................................ 18




Frost control ....................................................................................................... 18Cleaning and waxing ......................................................................................... 19Packing............................................................................................................... 20Storage ............................................................................................................... 21Shipping ............................................................................................................. 22Marketing ........................................................................................................... 22

Apple Labels .................................................................................................. 23Apple Facts..................................................................................................... 23

Workers.............................................................................................................. 24Selling and Buying ............................................................................................. 24Eating ................................................................................................................. 24An Apple a Day (Exhibit Worksheet)- Activity #6 ............................................. 25

Planting the Seed ........................................................................................................ 26Outreach Materials and Internet Tools.............................................................. 26

Follow-up Activities .................................................................................................... 27Apple of my eye - Activity #7 ........................................................................ 27Apple Jack-o-lanterns - Activity #8............................................................... 27One Rotten Apple Spoils the Whole Barrel ................................................... 27

The Apple Box............................................................................................................. 28The Virtual Apple ........................................................................................................ 28Washington’s Fruit Place Visitor Center ..................................................................... 29

Scheduling a Tour .............................................................................................. 29Interactive Exhibits ............................................................................................ 29

Evaluation .................................................................................................................... 31Many thanks to the following............................................................................ 32Yakima Valley Museum Staff ............................................................................. 32

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An Apple for the TeacherInformation about visiting the museum

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An Apple for the Teacher...As an educational resource, the Yakima Valley Museum would like to provideyou with some tools and ideas that will help you utilize our new exhibit onthe history of the apple industry; Yakima’s Love Affair with the Apple. Thisexhibition features artifacts, visual information, and interactive elements thatwill help students understand a little more about a major industry in Yakima.This exhibition will not only feature a history of apples in the Yakima Valley,but will follow the journey of an apple from germination to the localsupermarket. Yakima’s love affair is documented by the many festivals andparaphernalia demonstrating our connection with the apple. It is our hope toprovide a learning experience that allows interaction with historical objectsand reinforces that experience with classroom activities.

Preparing for your museum experience

The museum and school as partnersA museum is a special place that collects and cares for objects, as well as interprets and exhibits them for thepublic. When the students come to the museum, they have the opportunity to encounter objects in a threedimensional space, an experience that complements their classroom and reading activities. The museumprovides a visual experience, and may often provide experiences for the other senses as well. Encounters withobjects and artifacts provides an opportunity for a specific type of learning; size, texture, color, form, and thesensation from sharing your space with an historical object that you might not otherwise get from a photograph.

As a complement to your curriculum, the Yakima Valley Museum can be a partner in the learning experience.Activities in your classroom, both before and after the field trip to the museum, will help enrich the experience.You may wish to structure your study of Yakima’s Love Affair With The Apple through ideas outlined in thishandbook.

Washington State “Apple for Teacher”promotion, February, 1957

Preliminary activitiesThis handbook has activities which can help you prepare for your visitto the museum. Classroom activities enrich your visit to the museumby providing the basic building blocks such as the definition of fruit,the history of the apple, and the importance of apples to Yakima.Visiting the museumVisiting the museum will not only be an educational experience, butcan provide a fun outing for your students. Your class will first explorethe special exhibition, Yakima’s Love Affair With The Apple, then addcontext to the apple industry’s importance in Yakima’s history bytouring the rest of the museum. You will find activities in thishandbook to use while you are at the museum.Follow-up activitiesFollow-up activities in your classroom will help reinforce your recentvisit to the museum. Your students will be able to apply their field tripexperience to classroom activities while you assess the value of their experience.Evaluating your experienceHas this experience helped to meet your educational goals? How has this activity met your curriculumgoals? An evaluation form has been provided for you to provide valuable feedback to the museum so thatwe may enhance our educational activities in the future.

Washington State “Apple for Teacher”promotion, February, 1957

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Schedule your trip with the Yakima Valley Museum:

✎Decide on a date (Please decide on at least three dates in case themuseum is already booked).____________________________________________________________________________________________________________✎Write down the number of students___________________________________time of day you wish to visit___________________________________________school name _______________________________________________________phone number ______________________________________________________teacher name _______________________________________________________✎Call the Yakima Valley Museum at (509)248-0747, and askfor the Education Department.

Check off each item as you complete it:

____ I have scheduled with the museum for (date)______________ (time) _____to_________ I have arranged for transportation. The bus will pick us up at (time) _________________ I have arranged for chaperones to accompany us on this trip, they are:

_________________________ __________________________________________________ _________________________

____ I have sent home permission slips____ I have made nametags for chaperones and students____ I have discussed museum etiquette with the students____ I have finished preliminary activities with the students

✍Time: 1-1/2 hours to visit the exhibit, tour the museum, and interact in the Children’sUnderground.

✍Cost: $1.00 per student ($15.00 minimum charge). No charge for teachers orchaperones. School purchase orders are accepted.

✍Limitations: No more than three classrooms may attend the museum at one time.

✍Parking: School buses may park and remain in the Loading Area next to the entrancewalkway to the museum.

Plan your field trip to the museum so that you will have time to engage in preliminary classroom activities,arrange for transportation, contact the museum, and receive appropriate school and parent permissions.

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ComparingApples and Oranges

Preliminary Activities

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Comparing Apples and Oranges...What is an apple anyway?To us, an apple is a delicious, crunchy, sweet, juicy fruit that comes in its own edible package. To the apple tree,it is a means for survival. The apple contains the seeds of the plant which are used to propagate the species.Animals that eat the apples may spit out or expel undigested seeds with the feces (which happens to make a goodfertilizer), finding a new home for another apple tree.

What is a fruit?A fruit is a seed or seeds of a plant together with the parts in which the seeds are enclosed. Technically a fruit is aripened ovary of any flowering plant or angiosperm. Fruits not only refer to apples and oranges, but nuts, peas,tomatoes, peas, a grain of barley, a cotton boll, and coffee beans.

What is the difference between fruits and vegetables?To the botanist, fruits refer to any seed-bearing plant, to the horticulturist, fruits are products of perennialplants; that is, they are trees and plants that produce fruit for a number of years. Vegetables are annuals thatgrow from seed and produce fruit in a single season.

Where are fruits grown?Fruits are classified by growing region into temperate, subtropical, and tropical. Yet, where does this classificationcome from?

An ancient system: The Greeks, realizing that temperature was related to latitude, developed a type of climaticclassification dividing the earth into frigid, temperate, and torrid zones. The frigid zone refers to the polar areasabove the Arctic Circle and below the Antarctic Circle. Two temperate zones exist; one in the NorthernHemisphere between the Arctic Circle and the Tropic of Cancer; and the other in the Southern Hemispherebetween the Antarctic Circle and the Tropic of Capricorn. The torrid zone exists between the two tropics. Thisclassification system does not take into account factors other than temperature and climate that affect fruitgrowth. Not only temperature, as the Greeks had determined, but precipitation, soil type, and day lengthdetermine if a species can survive in a given zone.

Biomes: In 1900 a climatologist named Wladimir Köppen developed a classification system that based climaticregions on world patterns of vegetation and soils. Modification of this system divided the world into tropical,subtropical, cyclonic, polar and highland climates.

Fruit growing regions: Fruits are classified into temperate, tropical,and subtropical growing regions. If you use the ancient

Greek system definition of temperate and torrid(tropical), you may also add to that Köppen’ssubtropical climate boundary, that lying between 20degrees and 40 degrees latitude, to help define thegrowing areas.

The apple along with the grape, pear, plum, peach,apricot, and cherry are considered temperate-zonefruits. Apples can grow farther north than

any other tree fruit. Subtropical fruits includeoranges, limes, grapefruits, lemons, figs and avocados.

Tropical fruits include pineapple, coconuts, and bananas.

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Arctic Circle

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Tropic of Capricorn

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Learning where fruits growHere is a fun exercise that will help your students learn about fruit and geography.

Supplies:(pick two fruits from each growing region)1 pineapple1 banana1 apple1 peach or pear1 orange (don’t get a navel orange, as it is seedless)1 lemon1 world map1 globe1 United States mapFruit cutouts

Apple - Temperate Zone FruitGrowing areas: Washington, Michigan, NewYork, Japan, New ZealandSeeds: small cluster in the centerPeach -Temperate Zone FruitGrowing areas: Italy, France, Greece,JapanSeeds: One large pit in the centerOrange - Sub-tropical FruitGrowing areas: California, Florida,Australia, ArizonaSeeds: several clustered in the center.

Lemon - Sub-tropical FruitGrowing areas: Arizona, California, Italy, Spain,India, Argentina, TurkeySeeds: several, clustered in the center.Pineapple - Tropical FruitGrowing areas: China, Thailand, Brazil,Hawaii, ZaireSeeds: Pineapples that we buy are seedless, theseed would be just under the “eye” on the

surface, where the remains of the flowers are.Pineapples are fascinating, as each of the diamond-

shaped features on the front is a separate fruit.The pineapple is composed of a large number

of fused fruits, each of which has developedfrom an separate flower.

Banana - Tropical FruitGrowing areas: Brazil, Ecuador,Columbia, HondurasSeeds: Bananas that we buy are seedless, but seedswould be located running along the center.

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First introduce the students to the subject by talkingabout what fruits are, and the difference between fruitsand vegetables. Using real fruits, cut each one open toshow the seeds, or point out where the seeds would beif the fruit is a seedless variety. Discuss with yourstudents about each fruit and what type of climate itneeds to grow. Using removable stickum, attach thefruit cutouts on this page to the country or state on amap where they might be grown.

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The Star in the OrchardA favorite story to tell with some real apples, is a story of finding the star inside. This story changes as eachteacher recites it, so feel free to make up your own version.

Two little sparrows were sitting on the limb of a tree, assparrows do, and one of the little sparrows said, “The robintold me that if I looked hard enough in the forest, I wouldfind a little red house with a tiny brown chimney, with themost magnificent star inside.” “I have never seen anythinglike that,” the other sparrow said, ruffling his feathers, assparrows do. “Well, I am going to find it,” the first sparrowsaid, and hopped off the tree limb, spreading his wings toglide and swoop through the trees. The little bird cameupon a raccoon in the forest, and perched on a nearby rock.“Mr. Raccoon,” the little bird said, “Where can I find a littlered house with a brown chimney and a wonderful starinside?” “I don’t know,” said the raccoon, “go ask therabbit,” and he scampered away, as raccoons do. Then thelittle bird found a rabbit and asked, “Mrs. Rabbit, where can Ifind a little red house with a brown chimney and a wonderful star inside?” The rabbit twitchedits nose, as rabbits do, and said, “I do not know, why don’t you ask the wise old owl?” So thelittle bird flew high in the trees, chirping and flapping its wings to wake the wise old owl, who,as you know, sleeps during the daytime. “Why are you waking me up?” hooted the owl. Thelittle bird said, “I am sorry Mr. Owl, but I am searching the forest to find a little red house witha tiny brown chimney, and a stupendous star inside.” Mr. Owl said, “I know what you arelooking for, but you can’t find it in the forest, you have to look in the orchard.” Mr. Owlyawned and added, “But you won’t find it in a cherry tree, or a pear tree, or...” and Mr. Owl fellasleep. So the little bird flew out of the forest and through the valley until he found an orchard.He flew past some cherry trees, then pear trees, and finally came across a farmer who was outpicking some apples. The little bird asked thefarmer, “I am looking for a little red house with atiny brown chimney and a wonderful star inside.”The farmer laughed and said, “I think I know whatyou are looking for,” and picked a ripe red applefrom the tree. “Doesn’t this look like a little redhouse, and the stem, a tiny brown chimney?” askedthe farmer. “Now, if you look inside,” said thefarmer, as he took his pocket knife and cut acrossthe center of the apple. “Here is the star,” and thefarmer showed the little bird the center of the apple. “Oh, I see,” said the little bird.

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Fruit Printing

Wondering what to do with your cut fruit?Try making some fruit prints.

Supplies:Apples KnifeOranges Tempera paintsGrapefruits Construction paperLemons NewspaperPaper plates Paintbrushes

Cut all fruits through the center, although you might want to cutsome of the apples from the top. Let stand out to dry a few hours;juicy grapefruits especially. You may either paint directly ontothe fruit, or dip them in paper plates. The second or thirdprint, after a fresh dip in the paint, shows more detail.The finished prints can be made into such items ashats or wrapping paper.

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I’m stuck on youYou may demonstrate the way that bees attract pollen to themselvesthrough the following activity. You will need some dark-coloredballoons and baby powder. Spread a little bit of the baby powder on atable, then rub a balloon on your shirt, or the carpet, to create staticelectricity. Move the balloon slightly above the baby powder, thenturn over the balloon to show the students that the powder hascollected on the surface of the balloon. Talk to the children abouthow bees get pollen stuck to them as they travel from apple blossomto apple blossom. While you are demonstrating, you can also talkabout these bee facts:

Bee bitsBees have a seven to ten times better sense of smell and fifteen times better sight than humans. Fromthe hive, bees have a three mile radius in which they search for nectar. From your school, how far doesthe bee fly to search for nectar?

95% of all bees are females, these are called worker bees. Worker bees live for only 10 days in thesummertime. The queen bee lays all the eggs for the hives. Worker bees store them in cells, wherethey go from an egg to a larvae, then from a pupa to a full grown bee. Bees spend 21 days in the cell,where they emerge as an adult bee, knowing everything that a bee should know. A queen, however, canlive for 7-10 years.

5% of the bees in a hive are males, and are called drones. Drones don’t do anything except fly out ofthe hive to mate with other queens. In the winter, the worker bees force the drones out of the hive todie.

Bees collect nectar from flowers, then return to the hive. When they return, they fan the nectar withtheir wings to evaporate unnecessary water. What is left after this process is honey. You can makemaple syrup in your classroom to demonstrate how evaporation will make the substance thicker.

Bees also collect pollen while they are collecting nectar. They use this pollen to create a mixture withhoney to feed to the baby bees. The richest mixture of pollen and honey mixture is called Royal Jelly.At one point in the baby’s growth, this mixture is changed. If the hive needed a new queen, they wouldkeep feeding the baby Royal Jelly. Adult bees eat pure honey.

Bees make 50 trips to a flower to make 1/4 tsp. of honey. It takes 150 pounds of honey to feed a hivefor a year. After the 150 pounds are produced, beekeepers may remove the honey.

None of your BeeswaxTry making some beeswax candles in your classroom. What you will need is foundation, which is what is usedto line the frames in the hive where the beekeeper wishes the bees to build the honeycomb. Foundation isavailable at many craft stores. You will also need a candle wick with a metal center, as beeswax burnsquickly. Roll the foundation tightly around the wick. This is not only fun to create, but it is also anexcellent visual tool for discussing how bees store honey and take care of their young. And beeswax has awonderful smell.

Busy as a bee

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Pollen baskets forstoring pollen

Honey stored in honey sac (inside)

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Apple Label Coloring SheetYou may reproduce this sheet as a coloring activity for your classroom. This would be a good time to talk abouthow the color on the label indicates the grade of apple (see page 23).

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Apple Label Coloring SheetYou may reproduce this sheet as a coloring activity for your classroom. Students may wish to design their ownapple labels.

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The Journey of an AppleThe exhibit

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The Journey of an AppleFrom a tiny apple seed, the apple takes a long journey from the orchard to your house. See if you can find outabout the journey of an apple in the exhibit at the Yakima Valley Museum.

IrrigationThe Yakima Valley in the late 1800s wasnot a very appealing place to develop anagricultural industry. With only eightinches of annual rainfall, our valley is avirtual desert, and, after the short-livedsheep and cattle ranching boom of the1870s and 1880s, the valley floor was anover-grazed wasteland. Despite thevolcanic soils and flood depositsexcellent for growing plants, the Valleywas as semi-arid environment with itsgrasses gone and sagebrush rapidlytaking over.

But our valley had the potential for agreat agricultural industry. The landonly needed to be cleared, cultivated, and provided with water to produce some of the highest fruit yields inhistory. The Yakima Valley landscape was graded and cleared of sagebrush to prepare the ground for orchards.In the early days before tractors, this was accomplished with horses and plows ...and human hands.

After the introduction of the tractor and other motor vehicles to farming technology, the job of clearing the landand maintaining the cultivated orchards got easier. Yet, in many parts of the Yakima Valley, where steep hillsidesand narrow ravines made tractor use impossible, something new was needed. And something new was inventedright here in the Yakima Valley—the Lindeman Tractor. In 1939, Jesse Lindeman modified a John Deere tractorspecifically for use in Yakima Valley’s unique orchards. The tractor’s wheels were removed and it was refittedwith tracks, allowing the vehicle to climb and traverse the precipitous valley terrain and squeeze between andbelow the narrow, low orchard rows. This first “Lindeman-John Deere Orchard Crawler” was tested in theCongdon orchards and was soon in mass-production.

Once the surface is prepared, virgin orchard land must be fumigated to get rid of pests. To maintain soil quality,orchards must be disced and fertilized annually to aerate the earth and replenish Nitrogen and Phosphate. If allthis is done, the land is ready...just add water!

The Yakima, Tieton, and Naches rivers run through the semi-arid Yakima Valley. They are fed by the immenseCascade Mountain watershed, which receives over 100 inches of annual precipitation. Transporting the waterfrom the waterways to the valley floor was a formidable challenge.

The irrigation of the Valley was first accomplished by individuals to irrigate their own crops. The first irrigationcanal is credited to Chief Kamiakin of the Yakama tribe; he built a ditch in 1852, near the Ahtanum Mission, toirrigate his garden. Some settler families followed his lead, but the job of bringing enough water to the dryvalley floor for all the farmers was too immense a task.

In the early 1880s local entrepreneurs, both singly and banded together, began a series of privately

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financed irrigationcompanies. James Gleed wasone of the first; he started theNaches Irrigation CanalCompany in 1881. After thearrival of the railroad, theneed for irrigated acreagegrew, and the NorthernPacific Railroad hired WalterN. Granger, who hadsuccessfully irrigated dry landin Montana, to bring an“Agricultural Eden” to thisdesert valley. The SunnysideCanal project began in 1890,and by 1892 water was firstused by the new settlers fromthe main canal.

But even with railroad money and wealthy investors from the east, only limited amounts of land could beirrigated in this manner. What was needed was a massive public project. After passage of the Reclamation Actof 1902, the Federal Government became involved with the irrigation of agricultural land in CentralWashington.

The Yakima Project, begun in 1906, built six reservoir dams at the headwaters of the Yakima, Tieton, andNaches Rivers between 1909 and 1933. It also created large canals to carry water to orchards and fields. TheTieton Project was one division of the Yakima Project. The Tieton Canyon, where the canal was to be built,could only be reached by pack train, and the difficult task of canal construction was indeed a job for the federalgovernment. In May of 1910 the new canal began bringing water to new trees and seeded fields that had beenplanted in anticipation of its completion.

The Roza division of the Yakima Project diverts water from the Yakima River at the mouth of YakimaCanyon. This water is transported, via concrete tunnel, through two mountain ridges on its way to thelower Yakima Valley. The diversion dam also generates the power needed to pump the irrigation water tohigher ground. The Roza Project was begun in 1938 and completed in 1951.

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PlantingOrchards were once planted by hand. Orchardists had to sow many seeds and hope thatmost would develop into strong fruit-bearing trees. Trees were twenty feet apart and grewvery large. Each acre had one to two hundred trees. Planting was done in the spring, andtrees took nine to ten years to reach full yield.

Orchards today are very different from orchards of the past. Growers now buy small treesfrom nurseries and planting is done by machine. For maximum yield and ease of picking,trees are smaller and planted much closer together. An apple orchard can now have asmany as three thousand trees per acre and reach full production in three to four years.

Today’s smaller apple trees are dwarfed varieties of the larger trees of old.These dwarf trees are obtained by using the rootstock of selected smaller trees.Rootstock is produced by bending saplings of select dwarf trees into theground, where they will form roots of their own. The tree that naturallygrows from rootstock will not necessarily bear the desired fruit. To obtainthe desired fruit, growers use the techniques of grafting and budding.

Grafting is a method of growing a selected variety of tree bycutting a thin piece of living limb from that tree and connectingand binding it to the freshly cut trunk of rootstock. This piece oflimb—called scionwood—will mature into a duplicate of its

parent tree. Budding is similar to grafting,but, instead of attaching a piece of limb torootstock, an apple bud is attached to alimb. These methods of selecting applevarieties actually allow a single tree to bearseveral kinds of fruit, but as long as allgrowth is from selected rootstock, the resultwill be a small “dwarfed” tree.

GrowingWhat does an apple tree need to grow? Anapple tree will produce fruit in three to fouryears from a rootstock, but in themeantime, it needs soil, nutrients, sunlight,and water.

Apple trees use light energy from sunlight toconvert carbon dioxide, water, and nutrientsfrom the soil to carbohydrates. This processis called photosynthesis The carbohydratesare used for growth, and especially to createapples.

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PollinationPollination must occur for an apple tree to bear fruit.Between April and May, apple buds blossom with pinkflowers, and bees are moved into orchards to begin thepollination process. The bees are brought at nighttime,because by that time, the bees have all returned to thehive.

Bees are attracted to the smell and the color of appleblossoms, which contain the sweet nectar which theyrequire. Bees fly from flower to flower in search ofnectar; the pollen on the flowers sticks to the bees’ hairand is carried to the next flower. This transfer of pollen is pollination. Each blossom that is to produce an applemust be fertilized. During the day, the bees fly from blossom to blossom, storing the nectar that they use tomake honey when they return to the hive. While they are collecting nectar, they also collect pollen.

Apple blossoms create pollen from the stamen. Pollen sticks to the bees and it is also stored in pollen baskets ontheir legs. The pollen that is stuck to the bee from one flower, travels on the bee where it is collected by thepistil of another apple blossom. Once the blossom is pollinated, an apple can grow.

Most apples must be “cross-pollinated”—a blossom must receive the pollen from a different variety of apple inorder for fertilization to occur and an apple to be produced. For example, a McIntosh cannot pollinate aMcIntosh.

Growers have experimented withtransferring pollen by hand, spraying pollenonto blossoms, dumping from helicopters,and even using shotguns with pollen-filledcartridges, but bees continue to be the bestpollination method. The most importantreason for this is that blossoms, on even asingle tree, open at different times, and beesare on constant duty in the orchard, seekingout the blossoms that are ready.

To increase the effectiveness of the bees,blossoms are collected in the spring andpollen is extracted. This pollen is thenfrozen, and, the next season, it is put intrays inside the beehive. As bees leave thehive, they are doused with the pollen. Thisincreases chances of pollination. In thespring bees aremoved intoorchards to beginthe pollinationprocess.

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WANTEDDead Only

FOR DAMAGE TO APPLES#2 PEST

apple maggot

WANTEDDead Only

FOR DAMAGE TO APPLES#1 PEST

codling moth

Good Bugs, Bad BugsAlthough a honeybee is a beneficial insect for the orchard, some insects can wreak havoc.Growers try to protect their orchards from these pests. There are about one hundredspecies of insects that feed on apple trees and fruit in the United States. Over 46 of these species have a strongnegative impact on the apple industry. The two most potentially dangerous pests, in Washington, are thecodling moth and apple maggot. If not held in check, these pests will eat apples—as well as profits.

Although evidence for apple maggots has not been found in commercial orchards in Washington State, theWashington State Department of Agriculture monitors the traps they set each year, to make sure they don’tarrive.

The codling moth larva eats its way into the center of the apple, feeds on the seeds and core, then tunnels itsway out of the fruit. Sprays can be applied to the orchard to kill the coddling moth after the full bloom. Justmake sure there are no bees in the area.

Ever heard of a worm in an apple? The worm is actually an insect larva.C

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Washington’sFruit PlaceActivity page 30

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Thinning and pruningPruning increases fruit production, improves fruit color, and strengthens trees by distributing the weight ofbranches evenly. Once trees are planted they are pruned and trained into a specific shape best for that orchard.

To make the tree produce fruit earlier, growers manipulate the branches so that they grow outward at a slightangle upward. They keep the branches in the best position with weights and twine; props and trellis systems areused to support the low branches of today’s orchards. Older trees are pruned to renew fruit buds, expose thefruit buds to light, and to create “ladder bays”—pockets of space within the dense orchard for easier picking.

Thinning ensures large, healthy, attractive fruit, and promotes the health of the tree. Thinning also helps avoid“biennial bearing”—the tendency of trees to produce too many apples one year and too few apples the next.

Once fruit grows to the size of a quarter, workers remove the smallest ones from the tree; the better developedapples are left to mature. Apples are best when spaced about six inches apart on the branch. These basicthinning practices were adopted in Yakima Valley orchards shortly after the turn of the century. In 1944“chemical thinning” was introduced and is still widely used today. Orchardists spray thinning agents whichincrease the apple drop that naturally occurs six weeks into the growing season.

Frost controlFrost control is important because apple blossoms are very sensitive to freezingtemperatures. Cold weather can kill apple buds. No buds; no apples.

Orchard heaters were introduced to the Yakima Valley in the early 1900s. These earliest heaters—called smudgepots—were simply metal containers filled with fuel and ignited. Common fuels were heavy oils, such as diesel.Old rubber tires were sometimes used, often filled with sawdust. The burning smudge pots gave off oily smokethat could be seen as a dark fog blanketing the valley. On cold days school children were instructed to washtheir faces, hands, and collars. The smoke left a residue on anything that was outside, including children ontheir way to school.

Influenced by a growing national concern for theenvironment, the Yakima County Commissioners bannedthe burning of heavy oils in open containers with passage ofa crop heating ordinance on December 15, 1965. Growershad a five-year grace period to find a better way to combatfrost. This need, combined with rising fuel prices, was a callfor new technological innovation. More efficient heatersare now used. These have a “return stack” whichrecirculates smoke and vapors back into the heater.

Overhead and undertree sprinklers are also used in coldweather to encase young blossoms in a coat of ice. As thewater freezes on the blossom, heat is given off, protectingthe fragile bloom from the deadly cold.

Another innovation to combat cold is the wind machine.Mounted on 30’ columns, these giant fans mix thewarm air above the orchard with the cooler air closeto the ground. This raises the temperature aroundthe apple trees.

International Apple AssociationNational Dental Health WeekFebruary 3-9, 1957Appleland News November 30, 1956


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PickingApple-picking is done when the fruit is ripe. Apple varieties ripen atdifferent times, and fruit which receives more sunlight will ripen faster.Apple trees may be picked up to three times to insure that each applepicked is fully mature. Harvest season usually runs from mid-Augustto mid-October.

In the early days, apples were picked when they appeared ripe to theeye. The apples that looked ready were picked into buckets and thenpiled on the ground. Today several scientific testing methods may beused to determine the best time for picking apples. One such method

determines the maturity of apples by analyzingthe natural conversion of fruit starch to sugarwhich occurs as the fruit ripens; this is done witha refractometer.

Workers are trained to pick the apples deep in theirpalms, using the entire hand to avoid bruising thefruit with their fingertips. If the stem is removed theapple will spoil, so pickers must be careful not toaccidentally remove the stem. Once apples arepicked they are put into large bins that are truckedto the packing warehouse.

In the old days, apple trees could be as tall as 20 feet,and pickers had to climb high on ladders to get tothe fruit. Today’s smaller trees can be picked with aten-foot ladder, and someorchards can be pickedfrom the ground. Thisnew ease of picking is dueto improved rootstock and pruning techniques.

Cleaning and waxingApples are washed to remove dust and chemicalresidues. This practice began in 1920, following afatality blamed on fruit pesticide spray. Now allapples are washed before going to market. Theearliest cleaning was done by hand. Mechanicalcleaning methods were soon developed and variouswashing apparatus have been used over the years.Today’s apples go through a two-step process ofrinsing and brushing.

Freshly harvested apples have their own wax coating that protects them from shriveling and weight loss. Whenapples are washed, half of the apple’s original wax is removed. The wax is replaced with FDAapproved shellac or carnauba. This new coat of wax prevents moisture loss and retains firmness.One pound of wax coating will cover approximately 160,000 pieces of fruit.

1 bushel = 4 pecks1 peck = 8 quarts1 quart = 2 pints

Apple Activitypage 28Apple picking bag


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PackingPacking apples prepares them for shipping. Until the 1920s apple-packing was done in the orchard. Today thisis done in huge packing houses. Most modern apple-packing is automated to organize the apples according tosize and quality. Water chutes are used to move the apples within the warehouse. Sorters remove imperfectapples, called culls.

When the apple industry was just starting in the Yakima Valley, bushel-baskets and barrels were the acceptedmethods of shipping used by the established fruit industry on the East Coast. But baskets and barrels are noteasily stacked into railroad cars. In the 1890s, growers from the Northwest developed a rectangular pine boxwith a one-bushel capacity. These boxes were more easily constructed than baskets or barrels, and they wereeasily stacked in railroad cars.

Wooden fruit boxes—an innovation of Northwest growers—gave maximum protection to the produce packedinside, the pine used to make them was readily available in the Pacific Northwest, and the shape of the packagelent itself to colorful advertising labels. But, with changing technology, the availability of cheaper materials, anda shrinking workforce during World War II, these boxes were eventually replaced by the cardboard cartons yousee today. By the end of the 1950s the wooden apple box had disappeared.

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StoragePlants absorb light energy in a wonderful process called photosynthesis and use this light energy to turn carbondioxide into carbohydrates. Plants are not the only ones who use light energy to cause a chemical reaction –people also absorb the UV portion of light to produce additional melatonin; that is why we get a suntan.During the photosynthesis process, plants require a lot of water, and then break down the water molecule H

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into oxygen and hydrogen ions. The resulting oxygen is what we breathe. During the process called respiration,the plant uses these carbohydratesand other substances to producebiochemical reactions necessary forplant growth. During this process,the plant releases carbon dioxideand water. It is this respirationprocess that must be deterred afterthe apple is picked in order toensure its freshness while it iswaiting to be shipped to the marked

After apples are picked, they lastonly a short while, and when youbuy them from the store, they onlylast a week in the fruit bowl.Because of this, in the early daysapples had to be shipped soon after packing to keep them in good condition for the consumer. Apples weresometimes piled and covered with dirt for winter storage. In the first decade of the 1900s, apples were stored inpotato cellars. But neither of these methods guaranteed freshness. In the 1920s cold storage was introduced,giving the growers more flexibility in marketing. Yet some apples continued to spoil before they found a market.

In the 1950s, Wenatchee native Archie Van Doren introduced Controlled Atmosphere (CA) storage to theWashington apple industry. The Apple Industry had found out that by storing the apples in a reduced oxygenatmosphere, that respiration slows down. They do this by storing them in special controlled atmosphere storageareas where they increase the level of nitrogen. Ripening apples give off carbon dioxide (CO

2). Researchers

figured out that increasing the amount of carbon dioxide around the fruit, it produces a back pressure andreduces the rate of respiration. CA storage is a non-chemical process in which temperature, oxygen, carbondioxide, and humidity levels are carefully controlled. Temperature is kept between 32 and 36 degrees

Fahrenheit, humidity is held at 95%, and oxygen isreplaced with nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Bychanging the atmosphere around the apples, theripening process is slowed, and apples can be storedup to a year with little or no loss of quality.

The first commercial quantity of Red Delicious wasstored in a mylar tent in a Yakima area warehouse.Now Washington has the largest capacity of CAstorage of any growing region in the world. Todayin Eastern Washington 66% of all storage isControlled Atmosphere storage.

International Apple AssociationNational Dental Health Week

February 3-9, 1957Appleland News November 30, 1956


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ShippingShipping Yakima Valley apples to markets outside the valley, when the industry was young, was accomplished byrailroad. To prevent spoilage, apples had to be shipped soon after picking, and rail cars were cooled with ice.

The Yakima Valley Transportation Company’s interurban rail system was installed in 1907. Shortly afterwardthe fruit industry began using it to move their apples from orchard to large warehouses, built at the terminus ofeach interurban line. Packing houses sprang up along the trolley lines in all fruit growing districts. (You canlearn more about the Yakima Valley Transportation Company, and even ride on the Historic Electric Trolley, byvisiting the Yakima Electric Railway Museum, on 3rd Avenue and Pine Street in Yakima.)

Today apples are carried from orchard to warehouse by “straddle trucks” loaded with bins full of apples. Thetrucking industry has now replaced the railroad, carrying ninety percent of Yakima Valley apples across thecountry and to Canada and Mexico. Apples are also taken to Seattle and California for overseas shipping to overforty different countries via container ship. Containers can be removed from the trucks and loaded ontocontainer ships without the need for repacking.

MarketingHigh-quality Yakima Valleyapples created their own market.In the early days most appleswere shipped to the Midwest—chiefly Minneapolis, Chicago,and Omaha. Marketing wasdone by produce brokers, whobought the fruit from thegrowers in a private cash sale.The produce brokers, in turn,sold the fruit to wholesalers inmajor marketing cities. Whenthe apples arrived in these cities,the wholesalers placed them onthe auction block in theproduce market.

The Northwest became knownas the home of the big redapple. This was the golden ageof the irrigated valleys of the Pacific Northwest. Thousands of settlers came to the Valley with dreams ofprosperity in the fruit industry. New orchards sprang up all over the valley and soon the supply of apples farexceeded the demand. The new settlers had hardly started their orchards when the market collapsed, and freightcars of apples rotted on the tracks because markets could not be found. Growers believed that the dealers wereresponsible for the low price of fruit.

The Yakima Horticultural Union was founded in 1902, and the Yakima Fruit Growers Association in 1910.Throughout the Apple Industry, orchardists were forming alliances, hoping to gain control of fruit prices. Today

there are various organizations supporting fruit growers and promotingtheir products. The Washington Apple Commission promotes apples inmarkets worldwide; its annual budget is close to twenty-five milliondollars.

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Apple Activitypage 10 & 11

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Apple LabelsThe first wooden fruit boxes were made by Columbia River orchardists in the 1890s.Identifying labels were placed on the ends of these boxes...and the Fruit Box Label wasborn. These labels were widely used in the Yakima Valley after 1910. The brightlycolored and attractively designed labels soon became an effective advertising tool. Sincethe fruit was packed inside the box, the labels were a “window” through which the fruit could be seen.

Each packing house had its own easily recognizable label, capturing the identity of the orchard; and the boldimages played a major role in the competition for national and international attention. Images on apple labelswere animals, Indians, landmarks, slogans, patriotic figures, flowers, and even family members...to name a few.The background color of the label identified the grade of apples packed inside.

Blue was extra fancy. Red was fancy. Green, yellow, or white was “C grade.”

Before World War II there were over 4,000 different apple box labels in the Yakima Valley alone, representingabout 150 packing-houses. These labels carried the name of Yakima across the country and around the world.Other fruit industries and other agricultural regions have also produced labels, and countless designs have beenproduced. But, when the cardboard box replaced the wooden fruit box in the 1950s, these colorful examples ofAmerican commercial art became a thing of the past. Although the trademark imageswere often printed onto the new cardboard cartons, the unique nature and graphicquality of the labels could not be reproduced. With time, the significance of theindividual orchard has become less important than the simple “Washington Apples”logo, and a wide variety of images is no longer necessary. Today, original apple boxlabels are becoming widely recognized as a valuable piece of American history—both as art and asdocuments of our agricultural past. Collectors aggressively seek out unique labels; some rare examplesmay sell for thousands of dollars.

Apple FactsWashington has led the country in apple production since 1910.

Over 60% of Washington apples come from the Yakima Valley.

In 1913 H. M. Gilbert exported Yakima apples to the Orient, making the first study of Asian export

potential.

Washington supplies half of America’s fresh apple needs.

Washington apples are sold in more than forty countries.

75% of the Washington apples that are produced are sold fresh. The other 25% are sent to processors to

be canned, frozen, made into juice, juice sweeteners, and dehydrated products.

Tree Top Incorporated, one of the world’s leading producers of apple juice and other processed fruit

products, is owned and directed by the Washington growers themselves.

Apples are one of Washington’s largest cash crops, with an estimated value of $899 million for fresh

apples and $281 million for processed apple products in 1995.

More than 99 million boxes of apples were packed for the fresh market in 1996.

Washington’s top ten export markets for the 1995-1996 crop year:1. Mexico2. Taiwan3. Canada4. Indonesia5. Hong Kong

6. Thailand7. Malaysia8. Saudi Arabia9. Dubai10. Brazil

Apple Activitypage 10 & 11

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WorkersMany people have come to work in the orchards of the Yakima Valley. In the earliest orchards, the workforcewas made up of owners and their families. As orchards grew in size, more people had to be hired to meet thegrowing labor needs.

In the 1920s and 1930s, during the Dustbowl and the Great Depression, many people were destitute anddesperate for work. Unlike the decimated farmland of the midwest, Washington’s agricultural regions wereflourishing. People came from the Dakotas, Nebraska, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas to work in theWashington apple industry.

During World War II growers and ranchers did not have a strong workforce because many people were servingtheir country in the Armed Forces. As a result, from 1942 to 1964 thousands of workers called “braceros” werebrought from Mexico under the bilateral agreements between the United States and Mexico. Workers came towork for U.S. ranchers and growers, and many came to work in the Yakima Valley. In 1964, after exposure ofdeplorable living conditions and under scrutiny by U.S. labor unions, the Braceros Program came to an end.

There are still migrant workers from Mexico hired by Yakima Valley apple orchards—about 20,000 annually.Most come from the Mexican states ofJalisco, Oaxaca, and Michoacan. Some hopeto return home and buy their own farmssomeday. Others bring their families andstay to work in the orchards year-round,seeking U.S. citizenship.

Selling and BuyingThe four major stops in the journey of anapple include the grower, packer, broker, andshipper. Packed apples are placed on trucksand shipped directly to supermarket chains,or to wholesale markets where small stores orrestaurants may purchase them. Otherapples may be diverted from the packingprocess and loaded onto trucks in theorchard or the packing warehouse andshipped to processors to become apple juiceor apple chips.

EatingMost apples are eaten raw, but apples are alsoused to make applesauce, apple cider, applejuice, apple cider vinegar, jellies, apple pie,dried apples (apple chips), and appleconcentrate which is used as a flavor in manyfoods.

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An apple a dayExhibit WorksheetNow it is time to visit the Yakima Valley Museum. Remember to bring a pencil and a clipboard.Take a walk through the exhibition, Yakima’s Love Affair with the Apple, and find the answers to these questions.

1) How many apples does the largest apple box, built in 1934, hold? 1)_________________________

2) How wide was the largest apple pie ever made? 2)_________________________

3) Before the apple industry became a major industry for Yakima, what was the primary product raised in Yakima? 3)_________________________

4) Who was the first to use irrigation in the Valley? 4)_________________________

5) How much rainfall does Yakima receive each year? 5)_________________________

6) Where does the water come from that supplies Yakima’s irrigation? 6)_________________________

7) What aspects of Yakima made an apple industry worthwhile? 7)_________________________

8) Name a machine that was invented in Yakima for use in the orchards. 8)_________________________

9) Are modern apple trees bigger than apple trees 100 years ago? 9)_________________________

10) What insects are harmful to apples? 10)________________________

11) What insects are helpful to apples, and how are they used? 11)________________________

12) Describe the best way to pick an apple. 12)________________________

13) What local invention was an improvement over the bushel basket? 13)________________________

14) Why is wax put on apples? 14)________________________

15) Do apples have a wax coating before they are picked? 15)________________________

16) What is a cull? 16)________________________

17) How do you store apples to keep them fresh longer? 17)________________________

18) How were trolleys used by the apple industry? 18)________________________

19) What color label is used for extra fancy? 19)________________________

20) Why causes resulted in a great immigration of people in the 1930s to work in Yakima’s apple industry? 20)________________________

Apple Activityanswers on page 27

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Planting the SeedOutreach Materials and Internet Tools

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Follow-up ActivitiesApple of my eyeAfter visiting the Yakima Valley Museum, haveyour students make their own items thatdemonstrate Yakima’s love affair with the apple.Design an apple hat with a slogan that advertisesthe Yakima apple. Make dried apple necklaces(dried apples can be purchased at the grocery ornatural food stores).

One Rotten Apple Spoils the Whole BarrelRotten apples produce a gas called ethylenewhich can make other apples near them ripenmore quickly. Have your class set up bowls ofapples in different areas; one with a rotten apple,and one without. Watch to see when the otherapples begin to get rotten. Also, try puttingother fruits in with apples, such as pears, to see if what affect they may have.

Apple Jack-o-lanterns

SuppliesRed Delicious apples or other red applePlastic knives or butter knifeLemon juice

A fun activity, when studying about apples, is to make jack-o-lanterns out ofapples. Select apples with a red skin, and cut out sections just as you would a

pumpkin. The white flesh of the apple is accented by the red skin. Use a littlelemon juice on the apple to keep it from turning brown.


World’s Largest Apple Pie1927

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

An apple a day (answers)1) 76,650.2) Ten feet.3) Cattle.4) Chief Kamiakin of the Yakamas in 1852.5) Eight inches.6) The Cascade Mountain watershed.

Reservoirs.7) Volcanic soil, flood deposits, and a summer

with long hot days and cool nights.8) Lindeman tractor.9) No, they are pruned to grow smaller.

Dwarf rootstocks are planted.

10) Apple maggot and codling moth.11) Bees.12) Keep the stem intact. Use the palm of your hand

instead of the tips of your fingers to avoid bruising.13) The apple box.14) To prevent moisture loss, preserve firmness, and

replace wax that was removed during washing.15) Yes, but half of it comes off during washing.16) A less than perfect apple that is weeded out.17) Controlled atmosphere (CA).18) Trolleys were used to transport apples from the

orchards to the warehouses.19) Blue.20) The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.

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The Virtual Applehttp://www.wolfenet.com/~museum/apple.htmlTake the journey of an apple on the Yakima ValleyMuseum’s web site. The Virtual Apple includesphotographs used in the exhibit and links to other appleinformation sites. This can be used as a preliminaryactivity or a follow-up.

You will need access to the Internet, and preferably aNetscape browser. As plug-ins for Netscape, you willneed the current version of Apple’s Quicktimeplug-in, and the current version of Quicktime forMacintosh or PC. You can find these at: http://www.apple.com/quicktimeYou will also need the Shockwave plug-in, which can be found at: http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave

Planting theSeed

The Apple BoxThe Apple Box is full of materials thatyou can use in your classroom. TheApple Box is available for a one-weekloan from the Yakima ValleyMuseum.

The Apple Box contains:A) Apple with worm puppetB) Apple LabelsC) Apple picking bagD) Guy Finley and the Lifeline to the Valley: The Yakima-Tieton Irrigation ProjectA video completed for History Day 1989 by Stephanie Stephen, Rebekah Fish,Andrea Christenson, and Joel Lambertson.E) An Apple a Day: Over 20 Apple Projects for Kids by Jennifer Storey Gillis © 1993F) The Apple Box Label Coloring Book by the Yakima Valley Museum ©1981G) The Amazing Apple Book by Paulette Bourgeois © 1987H) Apple tray and packing pad

Irrigation VideoGuy Finley and the Lifeline to the Valley: The Yakima-Tieton Irrigation ProjectThis video, completed for History Day 1989 by Stephanie Stephen, Rebekah Fish, Andrea Christenson, andJoel Lambertson, is also available to borrow (in lieu of the Apple Box).

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Washington’s Fruit PlaceVisitor Center105 S. 18th Street (North of Sarg Hubbard Park)Yakima, Washington 98901(509) 576-3090

Washington’s Fruit Place Visitor Center is aneducational center for the Washington fruit industry.Through hands-on exhibits and displays, studentsdiscover what makes Washington state a leader in fruitproduction and why the area is one of the greatestagricultural regions in the world. Students will learnwhat steps the fruit growers must take all year long toensure an abundant and fruitful harvest.

Scheduling a TourTime: 1 hour for a guided tour and time forchildren to use the displays, and drink apple juice.Cost: FreeLimitations: One class at a time (If several classesare a part of the field trip, we recommend one classtour the center while one group is at the park orwalking on the Greenway. When the first grouptour is complete, the next class takes the tour.)Scheduling: Please call Washington’s Fruit PlaceVisitor Center at 576-3090, and ask for KimKershaw, Visitor Center Coordinator.

Washington’s Fruit Place Interactive ExhibitsHands-on exhibits help visitors understand the story of thefruit industry.

Introductory VideoA five minute introductory video offers an informativelook at the fruit industry and the many tasks involvedwith the changing seasons.

Wind MachineDuring the spring growing season, warm daytime temperatures and clear cool nights can create an inversion.This weather phenomena causes the ground to lose heat very quickly, resulting in a rapiddrop in temperature at tree level. The warmer air rises and sits above the layer of cool air.This condition is ideal for creating frost in the orchard. Since the cold air is heavier than thewarm air, little mixing occurs. Flower buds frozen on a cold night means no fruit at harvesttime. While burners and wind machines are effective in preventing frosts, the costs of fueland maintenance are a concern.

Orchard Management ComputerWith our touch-screen computer game, you are challenged to test your skills managing an orchard faced withthe common problems of frost, insects and rain.

Selective PickingSome kinds of fruit trees are picked only once during the season. But others can be picked several times over afew weeks. Cherries, nectarines, peaches, apricots and some varieties of apples and plums ripen at differenttimes during the harvest season. Fruit near the top of the tree, getting more sunlight, ripen first. Fruit lowerdown on the outside may ripen next. The fruit on the inner branches, getting the least sunlight, ripen last.

If the fruit is identified and picked first, the still ripening fruit will beavailable later. Trees can be picked 3 to 8 times over several days. Thisextends the season of availability for this delectable fruit. Thisprocess called Selective Picking ensures that tasty, ripe fruit is in themarket for a longer time.

In this exhibit, lights on a treeindicate which fruit is ready to

pick. The entire tree lights up withGreen lights. The Yellow lights showthe fruit that will be ripe first. TheRed lights are the ripe fruit.

Visitorsturn acrank and

watch the WindMachine at work.

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Be A PestIt’s not easy being a pest in the orchard is it?Orchard Managers use the techniques shown in this exhibit to reduce the amount offruit lost to insects and other pests. Managers measure each threat and use severalmethods to control the pests. Their goal is to do it in a way that keeps theenvironment and the fruit healthy. The technique is called IPM or Integrated PestManagement. IPM depends on knowing how pests affect the orchard as well ascurrent research on their control.

RefractometerThe secret to success in the apple industry is a combination of years of experience,new technology, and precise tests that tell us exactly when to harvest our fruit at

the peak of perfection - season after season afterseason.

How can a grower tell precisely how sweet fruit is? Heuses a Refractometer in the orchard to accuratelydetermine sugar content. It’s one way technology is used to deliver consistency appleafter apple. Sugar content plays a key role in determining the Washington harvest,because it tells the grower exactly when the fruit has reached maturity. It is thisperfect timing that makes Washington fruit consistently delicious. A grower

squeezes a few drops of juice from the apple onto the glass slide, then holds it up tothe light to read the numbers that indicate sugar content.

The Refraction Demonstrator uses a laser beam to show the principle behind theField Refractometer. We can measure the sugar content of fruit by passing a beamof light through its juice. When sugar is present, it causes the light to bend, orrefract, like eyeglasses do. Thanks to the Field Refractometer, strict sugar standardsand ultimately, the human taste test, we ensure that fruit from Washington orchards

will be the sweetest you’ll ever taste.

Pressure TesterWhen you bite into a perfect Washington apple, it has a delightful, desirable crunch.That means it has just the right firmness, or pressure, as growers call it. InWashington, we use a Pressure Tester to meet our state’s strict pressure standards -the only pressure standards in the apple industry. As a result, perfect crunch comespackaged inside every Washington Apple.

Fruit SorterThis machine sorts apples by weight. The cups are programmed to drop the fruit accordingto weight at specific places along the line. Sorting can also be done by color and size. At an

actual packing plant, the sorted fruit goes to the boxingarea. Some machines box the fruit in huge bins that serveas store displays. Fruit is out of the refrigerated area foronly a short time. One more way to keep the fresh tastealive!

GlobeWho eats Washington fruit? Washington tree fruit is prized for itsquality throughout the world.

The object of thisinteractive game is tosurvive all the hazards

and attempts to eradicateyou. You play the part of aninsect, and spin the spinnerto see what fate befalls you.

Visitors use a fieldrefractometer to

determine the sugar contentof the juice. Is the appleready for harvest, or does itneed to stay on the tree andcontinue to mature?

Visitors pass a laserbeam through water

and water with variedamounts of sugar. Thesweeter the liquid, the morethe light bends.

Pressuretesting isaccomplishedin this exhibitusing sampleballs ofvaryingfirmness.

Visitors turna crank and

send apples downthe sorting line,to see which holethe apple fallsthrough.

A visitor maypress one of thefruit buttons andsee whereWashingtontree fruit isshippedeach year.

A Reddelicious,GoldenDelicious, andGranny Smithtraffic light inthe visitorcenter.

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EvaluationTo help us create better educational materials for future exhibits, we would like your input about thispublication and the exhibit Yakima’s Love Affair with the Apple.

1) Did you use this teacher’s guide, and would you like to receive other guides for exhibits at the museum?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2) What aspects of this guide did you find most useful?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3) What aspects of this guide could be improved or eliminated?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________4) What other subjects in your curriculum that are covered under Yakima natural or cultural history would youlike to see covered at the Yakima Valley Museum?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________5) Did you visit the exhibit with your classroom?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6) Did you find the pre-visit materials helpful?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________7) Did you use the site materials?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________8) How did the students respond to the visit? Have you evaluated learning outcomes?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9) Did you find the exhibit useful? What aspects did you find helpful, or would like improved?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10) Were aspects of the exhibit and guidebook applicable to your grade level? Why or why not?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for your input. Please mail this form to:

Yakima Valley MuseumAttn.: Education Department2105 Tieton DriveYakima, Washington 98902

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Yakima Valley Museum StaffJohn Baule, DirectorAndy Granitto, Curator of Exhibits and ProgramsAnn Troianello, Curator of CollectionsDavid Lynx, Curator of EducationMartin Humphrey, Research LibrarianJean Dunlop, Operations ManagerMichael Siebol, InternVicki Schluneger, Receptionist

Many thanks to the followingwho contributed towards this bookletBarbara StevensonMike HarvesCurtis SundquistMarv SundquistMeryl PettersonBrian FelixKelsey Doncaster

Compiled and edited by David Lynx, Curator of Education© 1998 Yakima Valley Museum and the Washington Apple Education Foundation




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