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OUTDOOR CLASSROOM

Nature's Beauty
Children will investigate flowers.

Lesson Objective
Children will use their senses to investigate flowers and will press flowers to preserve them.
(Science) Science
What You'll Need
- An outdoor area where flowers are present (see Lesson Tips)
- Flowers – 2 per child
- Magnifying glasses
- White drawing paper – 1 sheet per child
- Crayons or markers
- Newspaper – 1 sheet per child
- Heavy books (used as weights to press flowers) – 1 per child
What To Do
Note: This lesson involves a walk outside.
- Tell the children that they will be going for a nature walk to find flowers.
- Take the children for a walk outside.
- As the children find flowers, have them describe the flowers (see Guiding Student Inquiry).
- If possible, allow each child to collect 2 flowers (see Lesson Tips), and return to the classroom.
- Distribute magnifying glasses.
- Encourage the children to study the different parts of the flowers with the magnifying glasses and share their observations.
- Tell the children that the flowers will quickly wilt.
- Explain that flowers can be dried and pressed to preserve their beauty.
- Place each flower face-down on a sheet of newspaper.
- Cover with another sheet of newspaper.
- Place a heavy book on top and leave it in place for at least 2 weeks.
- Carefully remove the flowers, and have the children add them to their journals.
Resources
Home School Resources
Home educators: use these printable lesson PDFs to teach this lesson to your home schoolers. They're available in English and Spanish.
Content Provided By
Common Core State Standards Initiative – These lessons are aligned with the Common Core State Standards ("CCSS"). The CCSS provide a consistent, clear understanding of the concepts and skills children are expected to learn and guide teachers to provide their students with opportunities to gain these important skills and foundational knowledge [1]. (External) Visit the CCSS