Flower Power : A Stem of Lilies Yields A Crop of Botanical Studies

In the post just before this one, I wrote of a child gifting the classroom with a stem of lilies. This single stem with three blossoms inspired a few of my students to commit their morning to botanical studies. One illustrated a booklet which identified and labeled each part of the flower. Another student harvested pollen and dissected the anthers of the lily. Using a mortar and pistil to grind down several anthers in a small amount of lemon juice, he created a colorful liquid that he did in fact paint with. Still another student lifted her already pressed flowers and pasted them to a hand made card.



The student illustrated only the red identified part of the flower on each page.

The complete booklet bears on the cover the student's completed illustration of the entire flower.

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The materials to study the flower are placed on the table.



The student uses a q-tip to harvest pollen.



Using tweezers, the student removes a few of the anthers.



The removed anthers are placed in a mortar along with some lemon juice. He uses the pistil to ground down the anthers and pollen.




The student paints with the pollen colored liquid.

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A student opened and removed flower petals which had been in the press for several weeks.



She carefully glued the petals to a card she later illustrated. At dismissal, she gifted her mother with her carefully crafted card.

I am bringing fresh flowers for flower arranging to school tomorrow. I can't wait to see how the children will use each of the stemmed flowers. Yes, it is Spring!