Attributes of a Sunflower

We kicked off the school year by exploring sunflowers and listing some of their attributes. I asked the children, what do you see? Curious pre-k students used magnifying glasses and started to explore. The children first listed: yellow, green, brown, black; the children quickly moved on to shapes: circles, dots, triangles, and then the conversation took a turn ... 

"Is it dead?" The children started to ask questions about the life of the sunflower and where it came from. Hmm ... I wonder? 

What do you see?  “A big bunchy sunflower; bunchy means – big, huge. So there is one in front that is dying. I think it's dying because all of the petals are turning brown. They are starting to be brown because you are not watering them.” LM

As the children shared what they thought the sunflower needed to live, a livelier topic emerged from several of the sunflower heads. Several arachnids and a few bugs joined us as well. 

"I see spiders." DS  And she sure did! The children calmly observed the animals and how they hid inside the flowers. 

Curiosity about the symbiotic relationships between plants and animals naturally progressed. “The honeybees go to the flower, then they get the pollen and then they go to the hive to get the honey.” LM

We only just started our conversations about the flower heads. As the florets shrivel away, the seeds will start to appear. Some of the children are already noticing the patterns on the petals. As the florets shrivel up, the seeds will be uncovered and our conversations about geometry and patterning will follow.