Theme: Exploring Wild
and Native Plants
Petal Attraction
Weaving Wildflower Lessons
"The biggest thrill for
my kids was noticing the constant changes from month to month
in colors, textures, and insect life as different flowers bloomed
in our wildflower patch," reports Wilmington, DE, teacher Sandy
Thurston. Each of Sandy's learning-disabled students observed
and sorted the seeds in a pinch of a wildflower seed mixture,
calculated the percentages of different types of seeds, then
made predictions about how different seedlings would look once
they grew, using catalogs and identification books as resources.
Some students took the wildflower seedlings home to transplant,
while others moved theirs to a wildflower patch they'd prepared
at the school. "The students were in charge of planting, weeding,
cutting old flower heads, and reseeding empty areas," reports
Sandy. Students worked together in groups, using identification
books to identify the plants, so that they could pull out the
weeds and leave the wildflowers. "This generated a discussion
on what's a weed and what's a wildflower," said Sandy. "Students
decided to define weeds as those plants growing where we didn't
want them, but they did recognize that what might be a weed
for us could be a wildflower to another person."
Each student chose their favorite plant, drew it, researched
it, and many did art projects inspired by the shapes, colors,
and textures in the patch. The project did wonders for their
observation skills, Sandy reports. "Before the flowers emerged,
students had to make very detailed observations of leaves, noticing
shapes, hairiness, toothed edges, and other features. They were
thrilled to begin to distinguish details where they first saw
only a field of green leaves."
Meanwhile, seventh graders in Carolyn Burgess's Crozer, VA,
class collected and identified wild seeds in the fall, used
books and local resources to study their special germination
needs, then used different techniques to try to simulate nature's
conditions for sprouting seeds. "The experience of thinking
about how seed needs are met in the wild, and trying to simulate
what is invisibly accomplished in nature, has given them a much
greater appreciation for native plants and the diversity of
the natural world," reports Carolyn. "They no longer look at
roadside plants as 'just weeds.'"
Why Wildflowers?
If you want to encourage children to develop a love and respect
for nature, consider those hardy survivors growing right outside
the door, in sidewalk cracks, roadside meadows, and vacant lots.
A transforming patch of wildflowers can help students learn
firsthand about adaptations -- for seed germination, pollination,
dispersal -- that enable plants to survive in their environments.
Students can begin to understand the role of wild plants in
preventing erosion and providing oxygen, food, and protection
for insects, birds and other animals. You can inspire important
language and history lessons by exploring how wildflowers got
their common or Latin names, or by discovering their folklore
and culinary and medicinal uses.
A wildflower unit for your classroom can be simple or elaborate
to fit your situation. It could range from observing and identifying
wildflowers growing around the school or in nearby lots to collecting
or obtaining seeds and trying to germinate them in the classroom.
Or you might choose to establish a full-blown wildflower meadow.
You can purchase wildflower seeds individually or as mixtures,
or collect seeds in the fall and experiment with methods of
germinating them.
Author: Eve Pranis
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© 2008
National Gardening Association