As usual, we began with a boat-load of books about flowers from the library. We talked about the vast variety of flowers including flower bushes and grasses. Did you know that grasses flower? I sure didn't! We also learned about the basic anatomy of a flower and the processes of pollination and fertilization.
We dissected a tulip flower head and I showed the kids the various anatomical parts of the flower. Then Chloe drew her own flower diagram of a tulip on a posterboard.
We planted lots of different flower seeds in pots for our yard and noted the great contrasts between them as we planted. We did sunflowers, marigolds, snapdragons, calla lilies and sweet peas. I love it when we can combine a learning activity with a household task! Got my flowers planted and did a little homeschooling at the same time. Nice.
Another fun aspect of our flower study has been our "What's in Bloom?" poster. Chloe and I are charting the perennial flowers that we see blooming around our area. On the chart we note the date the flower blooms, I write down the flower name and then Chloe colors a swatch of color to match the blooming flower. Then we both draw the flower in the last column. At the end of the summer (assuming we keep it going) I look forward to seeing if there's anything we can conclude from our flower chart. One of the flower books we read said that in general, flower color can tell you what part of the year it blooms in. For example, pinks and purples are mostly mid-summer flowers while whites and yellows are spring bloomers. We'll see if our findings prove or disprove that color-season pattern.
I'm certain we could have done more crafts and such for this unit. The possibilities with flowers are practically limitless! But the end or our school year is in sight and we're ramping down considerably. Only 10 pages left in Chloe's math book and then she's all done with her formal kindergarten studies. Hooray!
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