30 minutes
Ages 5-13
Closed captioned
Instruction guide (1996)
PREVIEW VIDEO
Available in French: Les pommes

Did you know most apple trees are clones? Watch APPLES to find out why.

Beginning with the important apple legend, Johnny Appleseed, APPLES goes on to explore apples in pioneer times with the story of the McIntosh apple. John McIntosh discovers a seedling near the St. Lawrence River which becomes the tree from which all Mac apples eaten today descend. Along with a tour of the root cellar, John's wife Hannah shows the use of apples in her kitchen, and makes an apple doll.

An orchard is visited over the seasons from winter pruning, spring blossoms with bees and pollination, spring planting, summer budding, summer thinning to fall harvesting. The harvest tour includes the stories behind the Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith apples.

Viewers see apple cells through an electron microscope. They learn how to grow an apple seed and are shown how a clone of an apple tree is made. Using apples to make juice, pies, and candied apples rounds out this apple picture which ends with a song, "Come to the Apple Trees".

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