Investigating Sunflowers.

Sunflowers are such a beautiful symbol of fall. When the flowers start to dry and the seeds are formed, we know that summer is gone and winter is soon on its way!  Mrs. Pizzuto brought in three large, dried sunflowers for the children to explore in the science area.

Using the tweezers to take out the seeds not only offered great fine motor practice (which will strengthen little fingers and make writing much easier later on), but it led to many questions by the children. Can we eat these seeds? Can we cook them? What will they taste like with seasonings added like sugar and salt? Why are there patterns on the seeds?

Many of the children have been exploring patterns and so it was interesting to discuss how the life cycle of a sunflower is like a pattern...seed, plant, flower, seed. Nature, patterns, growing cycle, math, fine motor... all from sunflowers!

Next week we are going to investigate what will happen if we plant some of the seeds in soil!