Preschoolers study sunflowers

#MiddleburyCT #Sunflowers #Preschoolers

By JANINE SULLIVAN-WILEY

MLT volunteer Kent Sullivan-Wiley shows young scientists the parts of the flower with the seeds in the middle and petals on the outside. They quickly caught why they are so named, exclaiming, “They look like the sun!” (Marissa Houle photo)

On September 20, the Lunch Bunch from Preschool on the Green made a field trip to gather sunflowers from Middlebury Land Trust’s (MLT) Bronson Meadow. Preschool on the Green Director Marissa Houle got the idea for this one day when walking past all the sunflowers drooping over.

She thought they would be perfect for a hands-on learning activity. She contacted the MLT and plans were quickly put in place. The children, led by their teacher, trooped from the school to the field, with the young charges observing all kinds of nature on the way.

At the field, MLT volunteer Kent Sullivan-Wiley met them and cut the towering flower stalks. One stalk was cut in half so it could be carried, and later re-assembled at the school. The kids were agog at the flower’s full height: it touched the ceiling! Using a magnifying glass and tweezers, they dissected the sunflowers, pulled out seeds and closely examined the structure of the blooms, discovering rather than being told that each flower head was in fact made up of thousands of tiny flowers. They weighed and compared the seeds, seeing how many would fill various sized measuring cups.

Olivia Loud and Kyle Beard examine sunflowers. (Marissa Houle photo)

While the kids were experiencing a stream of “Wow! Look at that!” they also were exploring STEM and math. The activities extended through the week as the children made journals about their experience. Houle was impressed by how much they had observed on the walk, in the field and in the classroom. One child drew the clippers used. Another was excited to see how many spiders and tiny bugs were nestled in the flowers.

This writer suggested the MLT might bring back a nature scavenger hunt done some years ago, and Houle was excited about the potential for future mini field trips and building a collaboration with the Land Trust.