Spring Springs

1. While investigating the anatomy of flowering plants, encourage students to find pictures of parts of a flower. Challenge them to learn the names and purposes of each part. Find out how different flowers grow (bulbs, seeds, rhizomes) and in what climates. Suggest specific Internet web sites for them to visit and read about the parts of flowers.
2. Students make a model of flowers. To create models, students will use Crayola® Scissors and construction paper to cut out flower parts for several different flowers. They can choose various accurate shapes and colors for petals, pistils, stamens, and other parts. Glue to paper.
3. Students decorate flower parts with Crayola Construction Paper Crayons and Crayola Washable Glitter Glue.

LA: Read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grade level text complexity band independently and proficiently.

LA: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

LA: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade level topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

MATH: Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two column table.

MATH: Classify two-dimensional figures based on the presence or absence of parallel or perpendicular lines, or the presence or absence of angles of a specified size. Recognize right triangles as a category, and identify right triangles.

SCI: Construct a representation in which plants and animals depend on their environment and each other to meet their needs.

SCI: Ask questions to clarify ideas about how plants may depend on animals for pollination or to move their seeds around.

SCI: Observe and compare the many kinds of living things that are found in different areas.

VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.

VA: Describe how different expressive features and organizational principles cause different responses.

Possible classroom resources include: From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons; Buds and Blossoms: A Book About Flowers by Susan Blackaby; The Life Cycle of a Flower by Molly Aloian & Bobbie Kalman; What Is Pollination? by Bobbie Kalman; The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller

Students use Crayola Model Magic to create a 3-D vase to set against their flower artwork. As inspiration for the vases, encourage students to use well-known artists' floral paintings such as Van Gogh's "A Bouquet of Fourteen Sunflowers In A Vase" or Claude Monet's "Women in the Garden."

Organize a class trip to a greenhouse that raises flowers. Prior to the visit, students compose questions for the tour guide. After the trip, students post learning to a class blog.

Students use Crayola Model Magic to create a 3-D vase to set against their flower artwork. As inspiration for the vases, encourage students to use well-known artists' floral paintings such as Van Gogh's "A Bouquet of Fourteen Sunflowers In A Vase" or Claude Monet's "A Bouquet of Sunflowers" as inspiration.