November 2025

Time for Cranberries!

Download this lesson

Academic Standards

Reading Objective:

Students will identify steps a family cranberry farm uses to harvest its crop.

 

Reading Level:

Lexile : 440L; GRL: L

 

Next Generation Science Standards:

2-LS4-1: Observe plants and animals in their habitats

2-ESS2: Types of land and bodies of water

K-2-ETS1: Engineering Design

 

Vocabulary:

bog, boom, waders

Use these questions to check students’ understanding and stimulate discussion:

1. Where does Lexie look to find cranberries growing?

in a bog

2. What do you fill the bog with to get the cranberries to float?

water

3. What does the beater do?

4. Would you take the cranberry plunge? Why or why not?

Go online to print or project the Reading Checkpoint.

 

  • Experts think cranberries were served at the first Thanksgiving, but they’re not sure how they were served!
  • Cranberries are native to North America. So are blueberries and Concord grapes.
  • Native Americans used cranberries as a healthy food, in medicine, and even to dye their clothes.

Materials: 1 bowl of water and 2 oranges per experiment; pencils; copies of the skill sheet

Overview: Like a cranberry, an orange floats because it has air trapped inside its peel. But will an orange float without its peel? Experiment and find out! Do this as a class demo, or have kids try it at their workstations.

Directions:

  1. If this is a class demo, get one clear bowl of water. Have 2 oranges, both with their peels still on. If kids will do this at their workstations, do this setup at each workstation. (Peel one orange for them, or not.)
  2. Remind students they read about cranberries that float on water. Why? They have air trapped inside the peel.
  3. Show them an orange. Its peel traps air inside too. Predict whether it will float. Put it in water and see.
  4. Next, have students predict whether an orange without its peel will float. Send them to their workstations to test, or peel an orange in front of them and see if it floats. Does it?
  5. Record results on the skill sheets. If there’s time, kids can talk about what other fruits they think will or will not float!