Lesson Topic

Sunflowers: Sunflowers produce cooking oil and seeds.

Grade/Proficiency Level

High Beginner to Intermediate grades 3-8

Materials

PDF file of background information for teachers, sunflower facts, crayons, seeds, dirt, small paper cups, water, photographs of sunflowers

Vocabulary

Plant, flowering plant, seeds, oil, kernel, harvest, crop, striped

Instructional Sequence

• Show students a picture of a sunflower.
• Ask them what they know about sunflowers. What are the seeds used for? Record their responses.
• Read a sunflower book such as Sunflower House or Lifecycles: From Seed to Sunflower, a book for older students.
• Have students read about sunflowers on the PDF Sunflower Facts and complete the sunflower cloze sheet.
• To eplain what sunflowers are used for, show students sunflower oil and let them taste sunflower seeds. Tell them that they should only eat the seeds that are striped. Explain why sunflowers are important to the United States and other countries.
• Plant seeds with students using sunflower seeds which will grow quickly. Review the vocabulary and each step of the procedure. Have students draw pictures of the pot, the soil, the seeds, and water in their science journal.
• Have students review the planting by printing the steps of the process on sentence strips. Students should be able to sequence the steps.
• Each day students should check their plants, add water as necessary, and record in their journals. When the plant begins to push through the soil, have them draw what it looks like each day.
• Students in grades 2-3 can complete the sunflower coloring book. They can also color and assemble a sunflower from the sunflower pattern.
• Teach students the sunflower song.
• Older students can look at sunflower art.
• You can also download our PDF Sunflower Clipart.
• Teachers can get more detailed information on our PDF Sunfower Background.
• If you have older students, look up this lesson on art and sunflowers,