Math Extender Activities for SUNFLOWER SUPREME Plantmobile Program www.arboretum.umn.edu Department of Youth, Family, & Teacher Education
CONTENTS: 1. Sunflower Glyph 2. Predicting My Sunflower s Growth 3. Graphing Sunflower Sprouts 4. My Sunflower SUGGESTIONS FOR USE OF #1 & #4: #1 - Sunflower Glyph: Make a copy of this glyph for each student Use just one copy to keep track of the class sunflower. Fill it out and ask students to interpret the height of the class sunflower using the glyph. Pose questions like What would the glyph look like if our sunflower was one foot tall? Three feet tall? You could even construct a giant glyph of the world record tallest sunflower of 24 feet 6 inches. Compare a sunflower glyph measured in cm with one measured in inches. Have students use a different color for each week and then have them see if there is a difference in the amount the sunflower grew each week. #4 - My Sunflower: On planting day, have the students draw a picture of how tall they think their plant will be after one week of growing. Make sure to explain that the children should begin their drawings at the bottom of the page starting at the top of the pot. After one week has passed, use a ruler to measure how tall their plant actually grew. Use this measurement to draw how tall the plant really is next to the prediction. After they are done with the plant s actual height drawing, have them predict how tall the plant will be in another week. Continue in the same manner for week three. Variations: Instead of a ruler, the children could use string to measure their plant. After cutting the string to the height of the plant, they can use it to draw the plant s height. They could also glue the string to the paper for the height of the plant. Included is an add-on sheet, if the students plants grow higher than the first sheet, this second add-on sheet can simply be lined up to the top of the first sheet and taped in place.
Sunflower Name Glyph: Picture the height of your sunflower A glyph is a way to show information in the form of a picture. In order to read a glyph, you must know what its symbols mean. In this sunflower glyph, each colored leaf represents 1 inch of height of the real sunflower. Directions: Use a ruler or tape measure to measure the height of your sunflower in inches. Color 1 leaf for each inch of height. Color ½ the leaf for ½ an inch. Update your glyph each week. When someone looks at your glyph, they should know exactly how tall your sunflower is just by counting the colored leaves of your glyph. Legend 1 colored leaf equals 1 inch in height growth Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Youth, Family & Teacher Education Plantmobile Sunflower Supreme Program
Youth, Family, & Teacher Education Dept. Sunflower Supreme Plantmobile Program Predicting My Sunflower s Growth Name: Date: Date: Date: Date: Date: After planting today, my sunflower is inches tall After growing one month, my sunflower is now inches tall. After growing two months, my sunflower is now inches tall. After growing three months, my sunflower is now inches tall. After growing all summer, my sunflower is now Draw your sunflower Draw your sunflower Draw your sunflower Draw your sunflower Draw your sunflower Planting Day predict after one month I predict after one month my plant will be my plant will be inches inches tall. One month old Two months old Three months old I predict on the first day of I predict on the first day school my plant will be of school my plant will be _ First Day of School
Graphing Sunflower Sprouts This graph was made days after planting. Starting at the bottom, color in 1 box in the column which represents how many sunflower sprouts are in your pot (2, 1, 0) There were seeds planted. There were seeds planted. There were seeds planted. There are sunflower sprouts. There are sunflower sprouts. There are sunflower sprouts. Seeds Seeds Seeds Sprouts Sprouts Sprouts Unsprouted seeds Unsprouted seeds Unsprouted seeds 2 seeds planted 2 sprouts 2 seeds planted 1 sprout 2 seeds planted 0 sprouts The totals for the whole class: total seeds planted total sunflower sprouts = unsprouted seeds. Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Youth, Family & Teacher Education Plantmobile Sunflower Supreme Program
My Sunflower Name Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 I predict I predict I predict How tall will it be? It grew this tall. How tall will it be? It grew this tall. How tall will it be? It grew this tall.
Name My Sunflower Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 I predict I predict I predict