Student slideshow: English | Spanish

Teacher printout: English & Spanish

Mystery Science Fruit Salad

In this reading, students learn how some mischievous people at Mystery Science made a "fruit salad" while thinking like plant scientists.

Wild Sunflowers, Wonderful New Traits

In this reading, students learn about two scientists who study wild sunflowers.

You can elaborate student learning and engagement with Mystery Science mini-lessons.

• Why do we have allergies? In this mini-lesson students learn why some people may be allergic to pollen.

If you are in an NGSS state, this mini-lesson supports the DCI LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms

More Paper Flowers

If you liked making paper flowers for this lesson, here are some ways to take that activity further.

• Experiment with where you put the sticky stigma. Can you make a flower where the bee ALWAYS gets pollen on the stigma when he enters the flower?
• Make a garden of flowers of different colors using construction paper or coloring the flower template.
• Make flowers of different shapes. You can make a narrower cone using the flower template. Just cut off the gray triangle and overlap two or three petals.

Garden Observation

Spend a sunny afternoon watching what pollinators visit the flowers in a garden. Have each student choose a flower that's in the sunlight and watch it for 5 minutes. Have them write down what pollinators visit their flower and how long they remain in or on the flower. Students can describe or draw the flower, noting what might attract insects to the flower.
Back in the classroom, discuss what students noticed. Did certain insects visit one type of flower more than others?

For more ideas on observation in the garden, check out the Pollinators in the Garden and other activities from the Denver Urban Garden.

A Bouquet of Flower Parts

You can extend the Flower Dissection activity by bringing in a mixed bouquet of flowers. Let students examine a variety of flowers and look for the parts that they found in the dissection. Finding the pistil, stamens, and ovary will be easy in some flowers — irises, tulips, amaryllis, daffodils, and gladiolus flowers all have parts similar to the lily.
Finding these parts in daisies, dandelions, and sunflowers can be much more challenging. These blossoms are actually made of many tiny flowers packed together, with parts too small to see without magnification.

Lily Dissection

Lily flowers are easy to take apart. Children can find the stigma and pollen rods easily and can often find eggs in the flower’s ovary. Each child needs:

• a flower to dissect. Day lilies are larger and easy to dissect, but they’re expensive. Peruvian Lilies (also called Alstroemeria) are less expensive and also work well.
• a worksheet with directions for the flower you chose: Peruvian Lily or Day Lily .
• an Operating Table sheet
• a butter knife or plastic knife
• a magnifying glass (optional)