Function of a dandelion

Line of Inquiry: How people/animals use plants

Yesterday we used Google Maps to locate the schools neighbourhood and the children used the Smart Board to identify where they have found dandelions.

This is where I find dandelions!
Today we continued our research "What eats dandelions?" and explored the function of dandelions: a food source. The children took turns suggesting animals they thought might eat dandelions and we looked for evidence in video on Youtube and saw bears, deer, rabbit, squirrel, people and horses eating dandelions. We could find no evidence of unicorns or dinosaurs eating dandelions!

Tracing the word 'food'

A finished web
The children organized their knowledge on a web.

We went outside and enjoyed the sounds of nature and big space to paint a field of dandelions!

Life Cycle of a Dandelion

Line of Inquiry: How animals and people use plants

While reviewing the form of the dandelion the children recalled how we ate fried dandelion flowers and that they wanted to try the leaves in a salad. The children helped rip the leaves into bite size pieces and decided if they wanted their salad plain or with dressing. Everyone tried and gave their opinion - they were good but they had a strong flavour!

preparing dandelion salad

 Video illustrated the life cycle of a dandelion. The children used a puzzle to demonstrate their understanding.

dandelion life cycle

During the discussion I asked the children if they thought they could eat the dandelion seeds and they all thought "No!" I smiled and said they may find out with Debbie soon! The children created the dandelion in the seed stage of its life cycle in art.

concentration!

dandelion seed ball art

People eat dandelions, do animals too? One of the leaves had a small hole and the children speculated that a caterpillar ate the leaf. Are there any other animals that eat dandelions?
"Maybe dinosaurs or dragons!" guessed Julia

We will research and find out!

Edible Plants: Dandelions

Line of Inquiry: How people use plants

Sarah's question "Can we eat buttercups?" led to us to research edible and non-edible plants in our local environment. We discovered that buttercups are non-edible and if eaten in large quantities can be poisonous! Daisies are another non-edible plant.

webbing our interests from our walk

daisies and buttercups are non-edible

So what plants are edible? Queen Anne's Lace (aka wild carrot) have edible roots. We learned that every part of the dandelion is edible! The children were eager to try! Together we made deep fried dandelion flowers and offered them to the rest of the children. Some children were open-minded and tried and some were not. Their opinion was expressed on a chart. Nicki, Julia, and Rocco ccommunicated their knowledge with the children about what edible and non-edible means.

communicating our knowledge to others

are you open-minded?

Drawing a picture of edible and non-edible plants provided an opportunity to discuss safety - Never eat anything until you check with an adult first!

edible and non-edible plants

Discovery walk in the forest

To assess the children's interests I took them for a walk in the forest and recorded the things that captured their attention and questions that came to mind. We walked along a new path that we've never walked before and discovered so many different plants we hadn't seen. We had such a great time that we lost track of time and returned late for lunch, but no one seemed to mind, chatting away blowing dandelion seeds and putting flowers behind our ears.

The children were given a challenge to focus their attention on the walk: look for roots, stems, leaves and flowers! My recordings will help guide my planning to include their interests. Here are a few things that came up . . .

The children knew the names of some plants and the question arose "Do all plants have names?"

Natalya noticed a large leaf with black spots and wondered what happened to it which could lead into a study of plant disease.

We discovered a stem covered in sharp prickles. When I asked why some stems were like this while others weren't Nicki offered "The prickles are for protection so dogs don't bite them" This could lead into a study of the attributes plants have that help it to survive.

Sarah asked "Can we eat Buttercups?" which could lead into a study of edible local plants.

Tomorrow we will web the things I recorded to see which the peeks the groups interest the most!

Plants: Function: what do the parts of a plant do?

Line of Inquiry: Features of plants in our local area

The children used a puzzle as a playful way to remember the parts of a plant.

The children know that the roots role is to help the plant grow and they know the stem helps hold the flower up but they didn't know what other functions these parts have.

We read a non-fiction book explaining the functions in more detail and the children practised their understanding.

Drinking with straws illustrated how roots suck up water from the soil carrying it up the stem to the rest of the plant.

Now for the tricky part! Remember to BLOW instead of SUCKING to make root art!

Plants: Form: parts of a plant

Line Of Inquiry: The features of plants in our local area

A plant the children are familiar with is the dandelion! It's one of the few flowers they can pick freely and I'm sure many of you have been the recipient of a crumpled dandelion handed to you with a grin "I picked it for you!"

Drawing the stem

drawing the flower

connecting the word to the part

The children examined a dandelion plant and shared what they know about the names of the parts of plants.

"This is the root!"

Individual assessments show what your child knows now about the form of plants. We will do this assessment again in a few weeks to check for growth in learning. One child didn't know the word stem and gave this plant part his own name "the holder part" I love it!

Assessment