Wellness Wednesday - Pick of the Month - CRANBERRY

Westfield Washington School Pick of the Month - Cranberry A cranberry (n) is small red acid berry with a bitter and tart taste.   You can enjoy cranberries as a fruit berry or as a juice.   Cranberries can be found on small evergreen shrubs from Alaska to Tennessee.  The berry is not only a favorite at Thanksgiving but also used as a food dye and to treat a variety of ailments from the bladder & kidney infections, reduce fevers, and even used to fight cancer. Here are some fun facts from "Easy Science For Kids.com" you can share with your family this Thanksgiving about Cranberries...  

1. Cranberries are native to America. Early colonists harvested wild cranberries.

2. Cranberries grow best in sandy marshes and bogs with acidic soil. The plants are low-lying vines. In the fall, farmers flood cranberry fields with water. Each cranberry has a pocket of air inside it. When the fields are flooded, the cranberries rise to the surface where they can easily be raked and harvested.

3. Wisconsin grows more cranberries than any other state. Most cranberries are turned into juice or sauce. Dried cranberries are also popular.

4. Native Americans added cranberries to pemmican. They also made a poultice from cranberries to draw poison from arrow wounds. The bright red color was used to make fabric dyes.

5. Sailors took barrels of cranberries aboard ship on long voyages. Because cranberries are a good source of vitamin C, they could prevent scurvy.

6. Cranberries are very tart. They are usually sweetened with sugar, maple syrup, or honey. Cranberries are a healthy food. They’re known for treating bladder infections.

7. Cranberries are high in vitamin C, and they’re a good source of antioxidants.

8. Cranberry plantings will continue growing for 100 years or more if given proper care.

SCIENCE Experiments with Cranberries Thanks to Pinterest and LemonLimeAdventures.com you can enjoy ten science experiments with cranberries.

10 Must-Try Cranberry Science Experiments for Kids

1. Cranberry Sensory Science

2. Cranberry Engineering

3. Cranberry Play Dough

4. The Science Behind Cranberries

5. Dancing Cranberries

6. Will Cranberries Sink or Float?

7. Cranberry Chemistry

8. Thanksgiving Science: Taste-Safe Cranberry Slime

9. Cranberry Spy Juice

10. Making Cranberry Sauce with Preschoolers

11. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cranberry

12. https://www.drugs.com/npc/cranberry.html

13. https://www.activebeat.com/diet-nutrition/the-incredible-health-benefits-of-cranberries/?

14. http://health.answers.com/

15. https://easyscienceforkids.com/cranberry/

16. https://lemonlimeadventures.com/10-must-try-cranberry-science-experiments/