A PROJECT ON FLOWERS

Last summer, in one of the Brigham Young University preschool lab groups (seventeen middle class four and five-year-olds), student teachers, April Francom and Katherine Whitlow, implemented a project on flowers. The following is a summary report of the project.

Before beginning, the student teachers constructed a web of their personal knowledge of flowers which reflected the different avenues that the children might choose to investigate. 

PHASE I

To introduce the project, a center devoted to documenting personal experiences with flowers was opened on the first day. A teacher was positioned there to share her personal flower experiences and to encourage the children to express/record their experiences. Many children chose to visit the center and became very engaged in drawing pictures and relating their stories to the teacher and the other children.

In the preschool, the children have the opportunity to answer each school day a "Question of the Day". During Phase I of the project, these questions focused on their experiences with flowers. To further help stimulate discussion and role play with flowers, flower boxes and a watering can were placed in the dramatic play area. The book Mrs. Rumphius was read to the children during large group time.

PHASE II

A nature walk around BYU campus began Phase II. The children observed flowers, made observational drawings, and investigated real flowers. Through this, the children continued to pose more questions about flowers they wanted answered.

Letters were sent home to parents suggesting they go on a family nature walk with their child. Graph paper was sent. Almost all of the children created graphs of the different colors and types of flowers they found.

During center and/or discovery time, an artist studio was created that focused on flowers and artists' interpretations of flowers. The painting easels were set up to give the children the opportunity to create their own paintings. Without encouragement, most of the children painted their personal interpretation of flowers. Real flowers were then brought in for the children to observe, draw and dissect.

The children investigated several different types of seeds through sorting, weighing, measuring, dissecting, and observing with a magnifying glass which stimulated much conversation. After they were through studying the seeds, the children wanted to plant them. Each child had their own cup for planting a bean. The children were able to observe, measure, record, and predict the growth of their beans in their plant journals. Planter boxes were available for the children to plant flower seeds to grow in the classroom.

Picture representations of flowers, rain, clouds, sun, and dirt were made available to the children to make their own "flower instruction book" by sequencing the pictures and writing or dictating the text to go along with it. The creation of the books helped assess their knowledge of how to care for flowers. Also, during the Phase II period, informational books about flowers were placed in the classroom reading corner. Many learned that they could find answers to their questions in the books.

The sensory table was filled with potting soil, seeds, and garden tools. The children practiced planting seeds and experimenting with the different garden tools. This continued during outdoor play, as many of the children created their own flower gardens in the sand pit.

A flower parts game gave the children an opportunity to learn some of the different parts of the flowers. The game had petals, stems, leaves, roots, stamen, and pistils, each with a number. With the roll of a die, they added the part with the corresponding number of the die to their flower. As well as learning about the parts of a flower, the children learned to work with others and take turns.

Botanist, Dr. Blaine Furniss, visited the classroom and talked with the children. He brought in several different types of plants for the children to investigate. He discussed the different odors of plants and flowers. The children learned that different smells attract different insects.

A visit was made to a flower and garden shop. The children created a list of questions they wanted to ask and clipboards were taken so they could do observational drawings. The flower shop donated petunias for the class to plant. Each child had the opportunity to prepare the soil and plant their own flower in an area just outside of the classroom. From the information gathered on the field trip, the children decided to create a flower shop in the dramatic play and block areas in the classroom. The children arranged the seeds into a display, created shelves out of blocks for their flowers, made price tags for the items, gathered and arranged garden tools, created money, made an open/closed sign, and brought in cash registers.

PHASE III

At the end of the project, parents were invited to visit the children's flower shop. The children shared their newly discovered knowledge of plants and flowers. They showed them the seed display and discussed how to know what kinds of seeds are in the packets. They also told their parents in detail how to plant the seeds properly. They pointed out the garden tools and discussed their uses. When parents took interest in the flowers, the children explained how to take care of them and what they needed to survive. Several of the children presented their parents with the money they had created to purchase items from their shop. Two cash registers were in the shop which the children used to accept money from their customers for plants and seed packets.

In addition to visiting the flower shop, the children took their parents on a tour of their flower garden. They were proud to point out the exact flower they had planted. Many of the children also used the flip chart of songs they had learned throughout the project to sing to their parents. Parents were free to walk around the room to view the children's work that had been displayed. The children were anxious to share their favorite flower books located in the reading center. 

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Last revised: March 17, 1996