Juicy Clementines: activities 7-11

Activities

Here is a set of activities provided to go along with the Online Field Trip about clementines. The intention is to inspire children to want to learn more about clementines and how they get from the tree to our homes. The activities may be done independently of each other. You may pick and choose whichever are most appropriate or interesting for your purposes. 

Ensure parental/guardian permission has been sought prior to the tasting of any foods and that you are aware of existing food allergies. 

Introduction 

• Discover what the children already know about clementines and talk through the following information: 

• Clementines are a type of citrus fruit and are a hybrid (cross) of mandarins and sweet oranges. 
• Most are seedless. 
• It is thought that the clementine was developed by Father Clément Rodier while he was looking after the citrus trees in the gardens at an orphanage he helped to run in Algeria. He found citrus trees growing wild and made grafts (joined one plant to another). The result was a new fruit enjoyed by the orphans and named the Clementine after Father Clément. (It may be worth pointing out that the origin is not certain. There are some who believe that the clementine is not a hybrid at all, but a very old variety of citrus fruit which originally came from China.) 
• We import most of our clementines from Spain. (The Online Field Trip takes place in Spain.) 
• Clementines are a good source of vitamin C, which strengthens bones and teeth, and is great for healthy skin. Vitamin C is also for energy and a healthy immune system. 
• They are in season from November to January, and are sometimes known as Christmas oranges.
  
• How do clementines grow? 

• Depending on the age and previous experience of the children, you may wish to talk through/revisit the life cycle of a seeded fruit tree so that a comparison may be made to the production of seedless fruit. (The life cycle of an orange tree.)

• The adult tree develops buds and flowers. 
• Together, look at a diagram showing the male and female parts of a flower. The male parts are the stamen, anther and filament. The female parts are the stigma, style, ovary and ovule. 
• Pollination takes place when the (male) pollen grain is transported to the stigma of another plant. This is usually done by animals (including insects such as bees) or by the wind. 
• The pollen travels into the ovary (the female part of the flower) and fertilisation takes place. This happens when the male and female parts join together. 
• A fruit develops from the ovary. The fruit has seeds which are protected inside it until seed dispersal takes place. 
• There are many ways in which seeds are dispersed, including by animals, wind, water and explosion. 
• When a seed has the correct conditions, it will begin to germinate (start to grow) into a tree, and the life cycle continues. 

Seedless fruits

• Ask the children why seedless fruits might be more popular than seeded varieties. Ask them whether they ever eat fruit seeds. [Tiny seeds are commonly eaten when consuming strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, tomatoes etc.] 
• Some people believe that apple seeds are poisonous and can be bad for us. It is true that they contain a very small amount of cyanide. However we are protected in two ways. The seeds have a hard outer shell that is not easily broken, and even if the seeds are chewed our digestive system can easily cope with such a small amount of the poison. Explain the following to the children: 

• Seedless fruits can develop without any fertilisation and are usually produced by the process called grafting. What happens is quite complex, but basically involves joining tissue from one plant to another to grow a mixture of the two. Usually, one plant is selected for its roots and the other for its stem, leaves and flowers. Parts of the root and stem are sliced with a knife and the two ‘inside’ parts are pressed together and held in some way (e.g. with insulation tape) until they merge to form one plant. 
• Farmers usually grow clementine trees in a different way, from grafted tree buds. The buds from one plant are grafted on to the stem of another. 
• If you have some expert and willing gardeners within the school community, ask them to demonstrate how grafting works. Alternatively, video clips are available – search the internet. 
• It is possible to produce one tree which grows a number of different fruits by multi-grafting. 
• Ask the children to think about what fruits they would like to grow on one tree. What would they name the tree? [e.g. fruit salad tree] They may describe it in writing and/or by an illustration. They may consider which combination of fruits would make the healthiest tree to grow or which fruits would most appeal to children. 

Citrus Fruits

• There is a huge variety of citrus fruits grown around the world.
• Read through the citrus information document, which gives facts about some of the more familiar citrus fruits. (Citrus fruit facts.)
• Find out about more unusual varieties such as Buddha’s Hand, Citron and Finger Lime.
• Gather together a variety of citrus fruits and try some blind tasting. Are the children able to recognise them just by feel and/or taste?
• Use citrus fruit juice as invisible ink. Write messages, then reveal them by letting the juice dry and holding them over a light bulb.

Sink or swim investigation

• With its skin on, a clementine floats; without it, it sinks.
• Together, investigate whether this is true and ask the children to think about why this might be.
• Is it the same for other fruits?

Christmas citrus

• Explore the tradition of giving citrus fruit at Christmas. 
• Download three short texts about Christmas oranges. (An orange in your Christmas stocking.)
• The first provides an explanation of the St Nicholas legend, telling why clementines came to be a popular fruit to give at Christmas. 
• The second, ‘A Magical Christmas Eve for Maria’, is an adaptation of the first story. 
• The third, ‘The Christmas Orange’, is a fictional tale about how oranges are connected with the spirit of Christmas.
  
• The texts may be useful for guided reading sessions. They may be used to discuss the nature of myth and legend and how elements of stories change in the retelling. You may ask questions such as these: 
• What is a legend? [an unverified story often thought of as historical]
• What is a dowry? [an amount of money brought by a bride to her husband]
• In what ways are the first and second stories similar? 
• Why was an orange so precious to Jack and the other boys?
• What is the ‘spirit of Christmas’?
• What is important to you about Christmas? 
• Ask the children to write their own stories about how clementines came to be given at Christmas. Alternatively, they can rewrite one of the stories provided, changing some of the details. 
• Make a Christmas stocking: 
• The children make two felt stocking shapes by cutting round a template, and sew these together. Encourage them to decorate them as elaborately as they like. Then they can start to fill it with an orange in the toe, as is the tradition.
• If appropriate, ask the children, ‘Do you have a stocking and if so what do you get in it?’ 
• Talk about other Christmas traditions. Put the children into pairs and ask them to explain their own family rituals to each other. You may prepare questions together such as, ‘What do you do on Christmas Eve?’ and ‘What do you have for Christmas dinner?’ 
• To encourage and assess good listening and recall, choose a few of the children (by pulling names from a bag) to feed back to the class about what their partner has told them. 

Christingles

• Find out about and make Christingles. 
• Ask the children if they have ever heard of or made a Christingle and if so, ask them to say what they already
  know about them. 
• Together, look at some pictures of Christingles and talk about their history.(How to make a Christingle.)
• Tell the children that the word ‘Christingle’ may be an English version of Christkindl, meaning ‘little Christ child’,  the present bringer in Germany and some parts of Europe. It may come from the words ‘Christmas’ and ‘ingle’ (an old Scottish word for fire), making the meaning ‘Christ light’. 
• Explain that the Christingle first appeared in Germany in 1747. A pastor there came up with the idea of using a lighted candle to help explain the meaning of Christmas to children. 
• The Christingle was introduced into the Anglican Church in England in 1968. It was made popular by the Children’s Society (one of the earliest children’s charities in the UK), which uses Christingles to raise funds. 
• A Christingle is a symbolic object, similar in appearance to a pomander. Each part of the Christingle represents something that helps to explain the life and story of Jesus: 
• The orange represents theworld. 
• The red ribbon represents the blood of Christ and reminds Christians of Jesus’s death. 
• The four cocktail sticks represent either the four corners of the world – north, south, east and west – or the four seasons. 
• The dried fruit (sometimes sweets) are a reminder to Christians of God’s creations and gifts to the world, including kindness and love. 
• The candle in the centre represents Jesus Christ, the light of the world. 
• Tell the children that the Christingle is now used in Advent services leading up to Christmas in several Christian denominations.
  

How to make a Christingle 

What you will need: 

• 1 orange 
• 1 small candle 
• red ribbon long enough to go around the middle of your orange 
• 4 cocktail sticks 
• 16 raisins or sultanas, 4 for each cocktail stick (or small sweets that can be fixed to a cocktail stick) 
• a small piece of foil (to catch wax dripping from the candle) 
• a pencil to make a hole in the top of your orange 
• scissors to cut your ribbon 
• sticky tape or a small pin to secure the ribbon on the orange
  
• Instructions 

• 1  Measure the red ribbon around the middle of your orange. Cut to the right length, allowing a little overlap. 
• 2  Put the ribbon round the orange and join it with sticky tape or a small pin. 
• 3  Make a small hole in the top of the orange. 
• 4  Skewer the dried fruit (or sweets) on to the cocktail sticks. Share them equally. 
• 5  Put the cocktail sticks round the orange just above the middle, to represent north, south, east and west (or the four seasons). 
• 6  Cover the hole at the top of the orange with a small piece of foil. 
• 7  Place the candle in the orange by pushing it carefully through the foil. 
• 8  Light the candle when you are ready to use it.
  

Make a pomander 

• Pomanders are another item that may be made with an orange or a clementine. They are used to scent clothes and are often hung in wardrobes or kept in drawers. In Tudor times they were carried around to ward off nasty smells. 
• Look at pictures of different pomander designs. 
• To make a pomander you will need:
  • an orange
  • red ribbon
  • cloves
  • a large needle. 
• Tie a red ribbon around the orange to give it a festive look. 
• Use the needle to make holes, then push the cloves into the holes. 
• The cloves may be randomly placed or patterned.
  

Spain 

• Spain is one of the top clementine/orange producing countries in the world. The Online Field Trip for clementines provides an ideal opportunity to learn a little about this country. 
• A fun fact sheet is provided as a starting point. (Christmas in Spain.) 
• After reading the sheet, the children may like to undertake further research, either by finding out about one of the points on the sheet, or by finding new facts of their own. 
• Some of the children in the class, or their parents/carers, may have been to Spain and can share their experiences. 
• Together make class books, information sheets, travel leaflets or posters about Spain. 
• Your school may already teach Spanish as part of the curriculum. If not, teach the children a few Spanish words and phrases, such as these: 
• • Hola – hello
  • Como estas? – how are you?
  • Bien, gracias – I’m fine, thanks
  • Adios – goodbye
  • Por favor – please
  • Que aproveche – enjoy your food
  • Christmas in Spain – Navidad 
• Christmas is an exciting time of year in Spain, where there are many traditions and celebrations that are quite different from the ones in the UK. Try the following together: 
• Prepare a large calendar poster showing December and January. 
• Add a symbol, such as a star, to each of the following dates on the poster: 8, 10, 15, 22, 24, 25, 28 and 31 December and 5 and 6 January. For each of these dates there is information and many activities related to Christmas celebrations in Spain. 
• You may decide to go through them chronologically, or to ask a child to pick a star and see what is behind it. 

• From around this time, families in the Catalan area of Spain place a special Christmas log in their homes. The log has a painted face on it and sometimes stands on legs. It is called El Tio de Nadal. Children look after the log by covering it with a red cloth and pretending to feed it every day. On Christmas Day (25 December) the children hit the log with a stick and sing a traditional song. When the song is finished, they put their hands under the cloth and pull out any gifts that the log has ‘produced’. (Christmas in Spain.)
• The children may enjoy finding and decorating their own versions of El Tio de Nadal. 
• There is a useful clip from an episode of Teletubbies from 1998 called ‘Christmas in Spain’ where children are shown singing and hitting their log (available by searching the internet). 

15 December

• The Nativity scene (belen) is an important part of Christmas in Spain and most homes will have one on display. There are very detailed, and there are special belens in many churches and towns, some with amazing lighting and animation. They always include a stable with figures of Mary, Joseph, Jesus, the shepherds, the three kings and animals. Children sing Christmas carols as they look at and admire the scenes. 
• Make a class belen to put on display. 
• Sing a Spanish Christmas song. ‘Felice Navidad’ (Merry Christmas) is a very popular song with a simple chorus that is easy to learn. There are many versions available on the internet. 

22 December 

• A special Spanish lottery takes place on this date. It is nicknamed ‘El Gordo’ (The Fat One) because the prize is a large amount of money. Most people in Spain buy a ticket. It is like a huge raffle, with every ticket having its own unique number. 
• Prepare a fun, class version of El Gordo. Give each child a ticket and draw out a few winners. Each of the winners might receive a ball of gold (in the form of a clementine) or gold chocolate coins to represent the money. 

24 December

• In Spain Christmas Eve is called Nochebuena, which means ‘the good night’.
• Friends and families get together, eat a special meal and have parties. Many different foods are prepared, such as these:
• a leg of ham (jamon)
• sweet nougat (el turron) 
• marzipan (el mazapan)
• shortbread
• nuts
• clementines
• dates
• fish
• lamb
• turkey 
• Ask the children to prepare their own special menus for Nochebuena.  

25 December

• Christmas Day is called El Dia de Navidad.
• This is another special day. Children may receive a few little gifts from Papa Noel (Father Christmas). However, it is not the main day when presents are exchanged. 
• There is a family meal in the afternoon. 

28 December

• This day is called El Dia de los Santos Inocentes and on it people play tricks on each other, as we do on April Fool’s Day. This is a reminder of the babies who were killed by King Herod when baby Jesus was born. 
• You may wish to read the story of King Herod to the children. (In the Bible, see Matthew, chapter 2, verses 1–12.) 
• In a town called Ibi (in the Alicante area) people traditionally throw flour at each other and become covered in white. Ask the children whether that is something they would like to do. 
• Locate Ibi on a map of Spain.

31 December 

• New Year’s Eve – La Nochevieja (the Old Night).
• On La Nochevieja it is traditional to eat 12 grapes, one for each chime of the clock and also for each month of the New Year. Those who eat the grapes believe they will have 12 months of good luck in the year to come.

5 January 

• On this day processions are organised through towns to celebrate the journey of the three kings. Sweets are thrown from the carnival floats into the crowds. 
• A special cake is prepared, called el rosconde Reyes. It is in the shape of a ring and is decorated with sweets and jellies to represent the jewels worn by the three kings (Los Reyes Magos). Inside the cake is a lucky charm. To find the charm means good luck for the year ahead. (You may compare this with the UK tradition of
  including a lucky silver coin in a Christmas pudding. This is supposed to bring good luck and wealth to the finder in the year to come.) 

6 January 

• The day of the kings – El Dia de Reyes. 
• Events begin the day before. On the eve of 6 January, the three kings arrive and leave presents. Before that, children write letters to Los Reyes Magos (the kings) saying what gifts that they would like. 
• Children leave their shoes out where the kings will find them. In the morning they are filled with treats and surrounded by presents. 
• They also leave out food for the kings and water for their camels. 

Clementine word puzzle 

• Let the children practise word-finding and spelling skills with a fun word puzzle. (Clementine word puzzle.)
• The children may work individually or in pairs or small groups. They find as many words as possible that can be made from the letters in ’clementines’. (There are well over 150.) You may decide to make this into a competition to see who can come up with the most words. Limit the amount of time (e.g. to 15 minutes). The player with the most words wins. Instead, allocate more points to longer words (e.g. words with 5 letters get 5 points, 6 letters, 6 points etc.). The winner is the one with the highest score.