Sunflowers!

Hey Science Friends,

It is that time of year that has us dreaming of sunny summer days as we learn about plant parts and life cycles. No unit could be complete without taking a closer look at sunflowers. What is it about sunflowers that we all love so much? My class thinks it is the color that we love so much and it makes us feel happy. Another thing my class has loved this year has been notebooking. They ask me before going to PE if we are going to use our Science Notebooks in science each afternoon. They love it if we cut and glue something in but also love illustrating what we have learned.

Our notebooks are simple...just spiral notebooks. After trying out different notebooks over the years I always come back to simple spiral notebooks. I buy them in the summer when they are on sale. I used to worry if I would have enough to fill them up for the year but now I worry that I will have a second one for each child within a year!

With so many great books to read about sunflowers it is easy to keep the interest going. Our favorite this year was Sunflower House by Eve Bunting. I think it's my favorite every year because I just love her books so much. As I read the book this year, I got a little misty. I asked the kids if when I was reading it made them feel a little misty too. I really enjoyed hearing their responses. I wished I had had a text to self response sheet with me ready to go. Instead we all listened to each other and had a rich discussion. So many great connections were made with this story.

We still have some fun stuff to do with sunflowers before the year is over. We are gearing up to go to visit a farm and we are preparing for that. We are hoping to see some sunflowers along the way.

For more life cycle fun click here!

Sunny Sunflowers!

Hey Science Friends,

Well nothing really says summer like a sunflower! This week we ended our day putting together our sunny sunflowers. As we were working, I could hear a lot of science talk around the room. My pieces for the project were precut to save a little time.

Here are some of my favorite books about sunflowers that I have collected over the years. Any Eve Bunting book would surely be on my list.

When reading, This Is The Sunflower, we talked a lot about seeds. My class was really interested in seed dispersal this year.

I found this book two years ago and have used it each year since I discovered it, This is a good one to integrate some process art into a plant unit. We read the book and do a little internet research and look at some of the paintings. Once we have seen some of the artwork we begin talking about the different elements in the paintings that we have viewed. We will end up with artist inspired sunflower paintings before it is all said and done.

Everyone is always surprised at how easy these actually are to create. Just a little paper, pencil, crayon and watercolors are all you need. These are the "go to" projects we work on when we finish our other work.

Once the dry, a quick trip to the laminator makes the colors come alive and they are so beautiful we can't take our eyes off of them. They are so worth the time and effort. I can't wait to get these started this week!