Cranberry Experiment
Take one cranberry. Look at it carefully. Draw a picture of what you see:
Does the cranberry sink or float?
Sink
Float
Question: Why do you think it does that?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Take a cranberry. Cut it in half with the plastic knife. Draw a picture of what
you see inside.
Is there anything about the inside of the cranberry that might explain why it
floats?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cranberry Science
Draw a picture of the cranberry.
Does the cranberry sink or float?
Sink
Float
Now, draw a picture of the inside of the cranberry.
Take a bite of the cranberry. Do you like the taste? Yes
No
Describe how it taste: _________________________________________
Now try a craisin. Do you like the taste?
Yes
No
Describe the taste:____________________________________________
Graphing our Favorite Cranberry Items
6
5
4
3
2
1
Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry
Bread
Craisins
Tally the Results
Which item had
the most tallies?
Which item had the
least tallies?
Sauce
Crasins
Bread
The Bouncing Cranberry Experiment
Step 1: Count 20 Cranberries. Place them in a cup.
Step 2: Find a hard surface and use a meter stick to
measure 100 centimeters.
Step 3: Drop each berry from the top of the meter
stick.
Step 4: Record how many berries bounce and how many
don’t.
Bouncing Berry
More
/ Fewer
Bad Berry
of the berries bounced. That means that ____________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________.
Draw your experiment.
Bouncing Cranberry facts:
New Jersey Cranberry grower, John Webb
found that instead of carrying his cranberries
down the steps of his barn, he would pour
them down the steps. He learned that the
fresh and firm berries actually made it all the
way down the steps while the older berries
didn’t make it. The “bounce test” was used to
create the bounce separators which are used
today to separate the good berries from the
bad.
Making Cranberry Crafts:
Mini-Cranberry and Popcorn Wreaths
What you will need:
 Floral wire or beading wire
 Fresh cranberries
 Popped popcorn
 Ribbon
 Wire cutters/ scissors
Cut about 12 inches of wire. String cranberries
and popcorn onto the wire. Leave at least ¼ of
an inch for securing it to the other side of the
wire. Twist the ends together. Add a decorative
bow and there you have a cranberry wreath.
You can also string popcorn and cranberries with
an needle and thread for a festive garland.
Create an acrostic poem to describe what you
learned about cranberries.
C-
R-
A-
N-
B-
E-
R-
R-
Y-
I hope you enjoyed the cranberry
activities in my very first freebie and
product. If you have any questions,
comments, or suggestions, please feel free
to email me at
rheinric@wausauschools.org. I welcome
and appreciate your feedback.
You can also stop by my new blog at
http://scienceschoolyard.blogspot.com/
for my journey in the Science School yard.
Graphics: www.mycutegraphics.com
Cranberry
Science
Cravin’ the Craisin and Cranberries
in the name of science
Created by: Renee Heinrich