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Mrs. Aichele's first grade class at Coal City Early Childhood Center recently conducted an apple-themed investigation, assisting "Farmer Brown" in finding his prized apple.
During the activity, students learned about the life cycle of apples and identified the different parts of an apple. They measured the height of their apples using cubes and used string to determine each apple's circumference. The class estimated whether apples would sink or float in water and found that all floated. Students also predicted what shape they would find inside when cutting open an apple, choosing from heart, square, star, triangle, or pentagon; upon inspection, they discovered a star shape.
The investigation included estimating how many seeds were inside each apple. Most students guessed two or three seeds but found six upon opening the fruit. The class drew pictures of apple trees during different seasons—spring, summer, fall, and winter—and participated in a taste test comparing red, yellow, and green apples. They graphed their preferences and found that green apples received the most likes with four votes.
Coal City Early Childhood Center is part of Coal City Community Unit School District 1, which serves Grundy and Will counties through several schools including Coal City Elementary School, Coal City High School, Coal City Intermediate School, and Coal City Middle School (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). According to data from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), the district employs 153 teachers with an average salary of $69,297 before pension contributions; 77.9 percent are women while 22.1 percent are men. No teacher in the district has more than ten absences per school year (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
Demographically, Coal City Community Unit School District 1 is comprised of approximately 86.9 percent White students, with smaller percentages identifying as Hispanic (9.6 percent), Black (0.6 percent), or Asian (0.6 percent) (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). In 2020, spending per student was $21,619 for a total expenditure of $47 million across the district (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
