Lake County Gazette

Mrs. Aichele's first grade class at Coal City Early Childhood Center recently participated in an apple-themed investigation, helping "Farmer Brown find his prize apple." The activity involved learning about the life cycle and parts of an apple, measuring apples with cubes for height and string for circumference, and making predictions about whether apples would sink or float. The students found that all the apples floated.

The class also guessed what shape would be inside the apple when cut open, choosing from heart, square, star, triangle, or pentagon. Upon slicing the apple, they discovered a star shape inside.

As part of their investigation, students estimated how many seeds were in each apple. Most thought there would be two or three seeds but found six instead. They also drew pictures of apple trees during different seasons and conducted a taste test of red, yellow, and green apples. After graphing their preferences, green apples received the most likes with four votes.

Coal City Early Childhood Center is one of several schools represented by Coal City Community Unit School District 1 in Grundy and Will counties (source). According to data from the Illinois State Board of Education, the district employs 153 teachers who earn an average salary of $69,297 before pension contributions; 77.9 percent are women and 22.1 percent are men (source). The district reports no teachers with more than ten absences in a school year.

Demographically, Coal City Community Unit School District 1 is composed of 86.9 percent White students, 0.6 percent Black students, 9.6 percent Hispanic students, and 0.6 percent Asian students (source). In 2020, spending per student was $21,619 for a total expenditure of $47 million (source).

"Mrs. Aichele's first grade class at Coal City Early Childhood Center did an apple investigation and were the investigators to help 'Farmer Brown find his prize apple.'"