Nature field note
Following the light
The Sunflower's Slow Dance
A young sunflower slowly turns to follow the sun all day, then quietly swings back to face east again by dawn.
Let's look closer
How does a flower know which way the sun is moving?
hile a sunflower is still young, one side of its stem grows a little faster than the other during the night, gently bending the flower back toward the east by the time morning arrives. During the day, cells on the western side of the stem take over and grow faster instead, slowly tilting the flower to follow the sun from east to west. This pattern repeats every single day the sunflower is young, resetting itself in the dark each night to greet the sunrise facing the same direction all over again.
Look for this
Explorer clue
Visit the same young sunflower in the morning and again in the late afternoon to see how far its face has quietly turned.
Your turn to wonder
Curiosity question
If you could slowly turn toward whatever made you feel brightest each day, what would you be facing?
Keep wandering
