3-D Flowers (Plant Parts and Art)




It started out as a lesson on Van Gogh: How will first graders make a sunflower?

I also wanted them to learn and review paper-manipulation techniques like fringe, accordion-fold, curl, and tab.  The result was cut sunflowers and irises that popped off the sky blue paper.

I soon discovered I was missing out on an opportunity: Teaching about plant parts.

I used visuals of plant parts I got from Oriental Trading and we named the petals, stem, leaves, roots, and finally, seeds. The seeds were especially exciting because they got to glue on actual (expired) seeds to their flowers and ground area. We also discussed what a plant needs: Sun, air, water, and soil.

We started with simple shapes: circles and triangles for sunflowers, heart shapes ("m" + "v") for irises.  I pre-cut 3" squares in multiple colors and demonstrated how to cut multiple shapes by folding or stacking the papers.  The stems were also pre-cut.  Interestingly, the sunflowers have heart-shaped leaves and the irises have thin triangles for leaves, with the reverse in their petals.

After enough students had cut shapes, I showed them how to fold accordion-style, curl their paper around a pencil, cut fringe, and fold paper up to make a tab.  Only then did they get glue sticks, with the reminder not to glue pieces on flat, but allow them to "pop up".  For the seeds, I had small cups of tacky glue.





(INSERT SEED SORTER HERE)

Those who finished early were encouraged to add to their collage by including weather and insects or other creatures.





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