Apple Picker...Upper

Challenge
Apples are the fruit of the season, autumn. There are so many ways to eat an apple, from apple cider to apple pie. Apples can be picked right from the tree or off the ground if not too severely damaged from their descent. Certain technology has been engineered to pick apples from trees. Most look like 3/4 of a small wire cage to grab and catch the apple on the end of a long handle. But, what about picking apples up off the ground? Is there something better that would work for this task? Your challenge is to construct a device for lifting an apple or more off the ground. What will be the best materials to use? What already exists in the real world that lifts items? Would it be better to lift more than one apple at a time?

Your apple picker upper does have some criteria and constraints. Only the materials provided can be used in your design. Your device has to be able to lift an apple 30 cm off the ground. The device must lift the apple without too much assistance (try to use simple machines to do the work).  

Materials

• apples
• masking/duct tape
• cardboard pieces
• construction paper
• yarn
• paper clips
• clay
• straws
• cups
• any other additional materials

Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with the items to see how flexible, movable, and heavy they are. Also, let students test how heavy an apple is.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their design. Include as many ways to improve their apple picker uppers as needed.
3. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials available and allowed to use, add any additional materials, take away certain materials, show them different uses of simple machines, include more apples to be picked up at once, change the height needed to be lifted. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
4. Make sure to standardize the platform students are building on. For example, if students are building a type of crane/pulley system, be sure to make it fair so they are placing it the same level above the ground.
5. Discuss pros and cons of different simple machines or ideas of apple picker uppers.
6. Connect to science by discussing gravity, weight, mass, weight bearing loads, strength/properties of materials, forces, Newtons.
7. Connect to ELA by reading Pull, Lift, and Lower: A Book About Pulleys or Scoop, Seesaw, and Raise: A Book About Levers both by Michael Dahl, to explore some concepts around simple machines and for students to gather ideas about what they could design.