Why Do Dandelions Have So Many Seeds?
by Maryann Whitfield
Why Do Dandelions Have So Many Seeds?
Traveling the streets of his small neighborhood Luke rides in a red wagon with a copy of the book Wildflowers of Texas. He’s on a quest to identify each wildflower he sees, and my job is to pull the wagon.
“I see buttercups, dandelions, spiderworts, and oh I don’t remember that one’s name,” Luke exclaims. That’s my signal to stop the wagon.
Luke climbs out with the wildflower book in hand. He examines the delicate, white flower and its leaves. Opening the book, he searches through the pictures. “Here it is Nana! Its name starts with an r. Oh, I remember its name is rain lily. I love the white petals. They look like a star.”
“Maybe we should give it a nickname,” I suggest.
“I know! Star flower. I’ll call it star flower.”
Satisfied for the moment, Luke crouches down looking at a nearby dandelion that’s gone to seed.
“Why do dandelions make so many seeds?”
“Let’s think about it together. Why would dandelions make so many seeds? Why do you think they do?”
“Look at all these dandelions. It took a lot of seeds to grow so many flowers.”
“Look, Luke! There’s a bee gathering nectar from that dandelion.”
“Oh, bees need lots of dandelions! Dandelions do need to make a lot of seeds.”
Before I can reply Luke notices a roly-poly crawling near the dandelion. “Nana, do you think roly-polies can smell their poop?”
I smile. “I honestly don’t know. I wonder how we could find out?”
“Google!” Luke shouts as he climbs back in the wagon. “Let’s go home and ask Google.” I realize our wildflower adventure is over now. We have research to do on roly-polies! Who knows where that will lead us…
The Power of a Child’s Curiosity
Children are filled with immense curiosity. It is evidenced in the way they dawdle and look closely at the world around them. It can be heard in the questions they ask. Their curiosity is a powerful emotion that drives them to seek knowledge and discover new ideas. Sharing simple experiences and conversations with children allows caretakers to tap into a child’s curiosity and desire to learn.
Luke was curious about the wildflowers’ names, and on his wildflower adventure, he became even more curious (“Why do dandelions have so many seeds?”). Luke’s question provided an opportunity to tap into his natural curiosity with a conversation. The goal wasn’t for his grandmother to answer the question. Instead, it provided a path to explore the possibilities in the question. The possibilities to think deeply. Observe. Describe. Theorize. Draw conclusions. His words demonstrated he was doing all those things (“Look at all these dandelions. It took a lot of seeds to grow so many flowers.” “Oh, bees need lots of dandelions! Dandelions do need to make a lot of seeds.”).
Luke was learning through the questions he asked.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to join your child in a shared experience and have conversations that tap into their curiosity? And yours too!
Consider—
- Going on walks in the neighborhood or a park and taking time to dawdle and look closely at the surroundings.
- Planting and growing flowers, herbs, veggies and having conversations as you observe them as they grow.
- Observing a construction site, watching the machinery, noticing what the workers do, and perhaps watching the progress over time.
