A few weeks ago, a parent brought us a sunflower from the community
garden. She asked us if we wanted it to
observe it in our classroom. We said
yes!
We put the sunflower at our Discovery Centre. Students spent time
observing it and many “I wonder” questions emerged and theories about what was
happening to the sunflower. A
reoccurring question was “Will the sunflower grow?” We had a Knowledge Building Circle and
students shared their theories. Many
students thought that if we take a sunflower seed and put it in water it will
grow.
A few experiments emerged to test out students’ theories.
Experiment #1 – Put a sunflower seed in a box and give it water.
Experiment #2 – Put a sunflower seed in a clear jar with water.
We waited and waited but did not see any changes in the sunflower
seeds. A plant was not growing.
We looked at other plants in the classroom and students noticed that
what was missing from our seed was soil.
We then read books about how plants grow and learned that plants need
soil, air, water and sunlight to grow. We then planted a sunflower seed.
Our
sunflower head is continuing to change. The students are now coming up with
other theories of what is happening to the sunflower and why it is changing.
