Wildflowers in Autumn

[science_spot]

The end of summer brings with it the end of the wildflowers (for this year).  The good news is that they will be back next year, and a quick science lesson explains why - SEEDS!  The best part is that it is really easy to see the change taking place outside, and just as easy to explain it to kids. 

In the autumn, two important things are happening in the world of wildflowers.   This is my last post in the series on Wildflowers:

Weirdest Wildflowers

Wildflowers Teaching Concepts

Wildflowers Update

Nature Walk

 

The most obvious change occurring outside is the color change.  While the trees claim all the attention with their bright yellows and reds, in fact, many different plants are undergoing the same biochemical change in preparation for winter.  Many of the wildflower plants I see now are still green, but the green is getting darker.  Some of them are making the transition to yellow, which will turn to the crispy brown we are used to seeing as everything lies dead until it is covered with a soft, cold, heavy blanket of snow.

The second change that is so easy to notice now is how the wildflowers are releasing their seeds.  It's really amazing to thik about all the different methods that plants use to get their seeds around for a chance at growing new plants in the spring.  Now is a great time to talk to the kids about where seeds come from.  Many people teach children about gardening in the spring and summer, but it may not be clear to them early on exactly where the seeds come from, particularly if you discuss wild plants that no one "gardens". 

 

* In our area right now, the most messy one to see (and explore) is the milkweed.  The pods are crispy and mature, making them much easier to open.  Inside, the gooey milk substance is still sticky, but the seeds are more abundant and also matured.  The obvious question from my daughter came right away.  "How do the seeds get out?".  There are a couple different ways.  First, some animals break the pods open in search of food, and either ingest the seeds, or get the seeds stuck to them.  The seeds then are excreted or drop from the fur in some other place.  If the pod is left alone, it will eventually harden completely and break open on its own to release the whole stock of seeds into the wind (the fluff helps to carry them).  In the spring, if the seeds have landed, undamaged, in some other place, they have a chance to grow into a new plant.  Picture below from wildflowerswest.org.

 

* Another method plants use to disperse seeds in by bearing fruit.  Usually the seeds are inside the fruit, but some plants, such as strawberries, have the seeds on the outside.  Either way, when the delicious fruit is eaten by birds or land animals, the seeds often are later excreted, undamaged, in another place.  There are so many fruits ripening right now, such as wild blackberry, grapes, deadly nightshade, apples, and more!  The picture below is from stoptheride.net.

 

* Those prickly thistles, such as the Bull Thistle and Canada Thistle so common around here, also release some seed now.  The plants are still prickly, but bearing big white fluffy masses where the purple flowers used to be is just too tempting to small hands.  My daughter immediately grabbed a handful and let them go in the breeze, displaying one moe way wildflowers spread their seeds for next year.  Each one of the white fluffy pieces has a seed on the end that is going to land somewhere new, in hopes of germinating in the spring.  The sow thistle in the picture below is from greenfootsteps.com.

 

I love nature. I love how everything is a cycle, with no beginning and no end.  Science is truely a magnificent journey of discovery that never gets old!

 

Tonya

AKA sunmoonstars

The Science Spot

 

 

 

 

[roseisrose]

Sep. 25, 2009 at 8:32 PM

wonderful post~ I absolutely agree... I love the circle of nature and the beauty in watching the season change and how amazing everything single plant, tree, seed and flower really are!!

[You_Are_Invited]

Sep. 26, 2009 at 2:09 AM

DS and I have had some great conversations about flowers and seeds recently. I have never paid attention to the fall as being a time to talk about it, it's always been a spring thing. Doing homeschool now though I get a lot of questions I didn't anticipate and I am working overtime. I was blown away by how much he learned in kindergarten about seeds. We have some units in his science coming up about seeds and different plants, so I have been doing research on what plants I can grow in my living room to show him the whole thing. Yeah, I am loving this school stuff. But don't tell on me. I get more sympathy if I am over worked and distraught. =D