A sunflower's life begins with a seed.

To turn that seed into a plant,

we first need to fill a pot with a bag of soil.

Plant the seed about one or two centimeters under the soil.

Moisten the soil with a cup of water.

With the right amount of water and warmth,

the seed will sprout in about one week.

As the sunflower grows up out of the soil,

its roots grow down.

These roots get water and food from the soil, helping the sunflower to grow.

A single smooth stem grows higher and higher above the ground,

with wide leaves growing out of the stem along the way.

Water and food go up through  the roots, through the stem, and into the leaves. 

Thirty days after the plant comes out of the ground,

the flower of the sunflower plant begins to grow.

The flower is round and flat,

with bright yellow petals that grow around it.

When bees come to get nectar from  the flower, they bring pollen with them from other flowers.

This pollen helps new sunflower  seeds to grow in the flat part of the flower.

Did you know that a sunflower always  turns toward the sun?

The sunflower, like all plants, uses sunlight in a special way.

The leaves of the sunflower turn sunlight into energy for the plant.

When leaves make this energy, they make oxygen, too.

As the sunflower comes to the end of its life, the sunflower seeds dry up.

Some of them fall into the soil, where they will grow into new sunflowers the next year.

Birds eat some of the seeds. People  take the sunflower seeds and eat them, too.

The seeds also have sunflower oil  in them, which people use for cooking.

Like all plants, the sunflower is very  important for life on Earth.

It gives us oxygen, it provides food for humans and animals,

and it brings color and beauty to our planet.

We must remember to take care of the plants in our world because they take care of us!