How disappointing when a trip to the grocery store for a favorite fruity treat results only in a bag of unripe fruit! Turn that disappointment into an opportunity for science with this fruit ripening experiment!
Fruit Ripening Experiment
This fruit-based science experiment is very easy and the best part is the tasty treat reward for young scientists when they finish collecting their data! We used pears for this project, but you could use any fruit you wish.
What you need:
- Underripe pears, or other fruit
- Pen
- Paper bag
- 1 apple
Procedure
Label the paper bag with the date.
Place half the pears in the paper bag with an apple. Set aside on the counter.
Place the remaining pears out on the counter.
Check the pears every day to see which ripens faster.
Optional: Each day, when you check the pears for ripeness, record your findings on a chart, noting if any of the pears appear to be ripening. Are they getting softer? Are the pears changing color?
We decided that the pears in the bag ripened only one day sooner than those on the the counter. However, as we didn't eat them all on the first day, we also observed that the difference in ripeness became more pronounced the longer we let the pears ripen.
In any case, we gobbled them up!
MORE: Five farmer's market activities for kids
Why does fruit ripen faster in a paper bag?
Of course, young scientists will want to know the science behind the fruit ripening experiment!
It has to do with ethylene gas! Some fruits produce ethylene gas as they ripen. It just so happens that both pears and apples produce ethylene gas. (Perhaps we should do the experiment without an apple and compare results!)
Ethylene gas is a "naturally occurring plant hormone produced by plant cells that aid in the ripening and aging process of fresh products"
The paper bag traps the ethylene gas produced by the fruit. The fruit becomes surrounded with higher levels of the gas than normal, which speeds up the ripening process
Not every fruit ripens faster in a paper bag. A great extension project would be to determine which fruits ripen faster in a paper bag and which ones do not!
MORE: Best At-Home Science Experiments
Books about Pears
Book titles are affiliate links.
Mr Putter and Tabby Pick the Pearsby Cynthia Rylant is one of the funniest books in this easy reader series! My kids laugh and laugh as Mr. P. and Tabby slingshot pears over the fence.
Too Many Pears! by Jackie French. I love this book about Pamela, the pear-loving cow. Pamela can't stop eating pears and she'll do anything to keep eating her favorite fruit.
Happy Eating!
MORE: 10 Ways Kids Can Help in the Kitchen
First published 2010, updated 2023.
MaryAnne says
My mom always put bananas in a bag to ripen like this!
Raising a Happy Child says
I learned something new today - never heard of ripening pears in a bag before!
tami says
I love to see your ideas!
Eva says
Yaa I always keep the apples away from the bananas b/c they ripen them too quickly before we can eat them!
Emma @ P is for Preschooler says
I love the simple experiments! This sounds like a fun way to work with science...and then get to eat it at the end (best part! lol!).
Erica MomandKiddo says
The eating is definitely my favorite part!