Sunflower

*Helianthus annuus*

How to know it

A tall single stem with large rough leaves and a big flower head that tracks the sun while growing. The head is not one flower but hundreds packed together.

What it does

Grown for seeds and oil worldwide. The seed head arrangement follows a spiral pattern that appears throughout nature, and on a real head it is countable, which turns an abstract idea into an afternoon.

Safety

Safe. Seeds are edible.

Two things to do with children

Plant seeds and measure weekly. It is the fastest visible growth most children will see, and it rewards a class that struggles to wait.

Count the spirals on a dried head, in both directions. Older children find the numbers surprising and it is a real entry point into pattern in nature.