2022-23 Term 3.1 Where do plants and flowers come from? End of term summary

This half term our Big Question has been 'Where do plants and flowers come from?'

We started by asking the children their thoughts and making mind maps of what the children already knew. They could talk about seeds and soil and flowers being found outside and remembered the seeds we planted before Easter.

We went on to look at flowers from the garden and pictures and found out the names for the different parts of plants. We learned about roots that help get water and food from the soil and keep plants standing up, the seed or bulb that we plant in the soil and the plant grows from, the stem that grows up to the sky, leaves that grow out of the stem that point out into the sunshine and lastly the flower at the top of the plant that had lots of petals and can be different colours.

The children drew their own pictures of the parts of a plant. We have explored different fruits and found the seeds, most were inside the fruits but some were on the outside. We have also continued to look after our potato plants for the 100 Day Potato Challenge!

The children all planted a sunflower and took these home to look after, some of them have grown really tall but some have only grown a little bit so far. The children have shared with us how they have put them in the sun and given them water. We have also been looking after our Garden room vegetable patches taking out the weeds and we have planted out the seedlings we planted before Easter. We have been looking after them with lots of water. We have also planted more seeds and the children have been able to share what they need to grow and thoughts about what they might grow in to.

In Forest school we have made mud play dough mini beasts rolled in wild flower seeds and left them to grow on a patch of soil. We have also talked about how we can eat some seeds and cooked seedy bread on the fire.

We have looked back at the mind maps to see what the children now know about 'Where do plants and flowers come from?' and they are now able to confidently talk about planting seeds and what they need to grow. They can explain the different parts of plants and give a simple explanation of what the roots and stems are for. They have shown increased understanding of the need to care for plants and flowers and are especially keen to help water the growing vegetables.