Seed Investigation

Earlier this school year, we spent time studying living things and what they need. As an extension of that, today we spent the afternoon exploring and investigating seeds. The boys both agreed that this was a fun activity - with equal parts sensory fun, messy play, hands on STEM learning, counting/skip counting, fine motor skill practise, knife skill practise, and snacking 😉

We started out by laying out a variety of fruits and vegetables I had on hand, as well as some plates, cutting boards, magnifying glasses, tweezers, spoons and knives (a butter knife for Ried). I had prepared a chart for Landon to record his observations.

During our investigation, the boys cut open and explored each fruit to make observations about the seeds. Were they on the inside or outside? How big were they? How many were there? What colour? Were they hard or soft? Round or pointy? We made predictions and then counted the seeds when possible. Some of the seeds were too small and difficult to count, so for those we made predictions and then I looked online for the approximate number of seeds.

We explored cantaloupe, cucumber, apples, pears, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and a bell pepper because that’s what I had on hand, but a stone fruit with a pit like a peach or cherries would have been interesting to add as well.

Once we were done with the messy part, we moved onto some reading with the help of library books and Hoopla. I like to pick junior non fiction books at Landon’s reading level as well as ones for me to read aloud. Here is today’s reading list:

What Are Seeds? - Jens Haakonsen

A Fruit is a Suitcase for Seeds - Jean Richards

Who Will Plant a Tree? - Jerry Pallotta

Seed Dispersers: Poop, Fur, and Other Ways Animals Scatter Seeds - Emma Huddleston

And here are some of our other library selections that we will continue with this week:

We learned a lot about different types of seeds, the different ways they are dispersed (the kids especially love that they are dispersed through animal 💩) how some are edible and others are not, and some review about the plant life cycle. We learned about the important role that animals play in seed dispersal and that seeds need to be spread in order to grow and thrive with enough space.

We checked out some videos on YouTube about seed dispersal, and even I learned something new! Check out this cool video of seeds dispersing from an exploding cucumber plant!

https://youtu.be/wOIHzl2h9a8 We plan to continue on with more learning on the topic of seeds this week. Check out some of our past hands on learning with seeds below.

GROW A BEAN SEED:

We have observed bean seeds sprouting every year for the last several years and it never seems to get old. Simply dampen a paper towel and tuck a bean seed along the edge of a clear glass or jar where you can see it. Keep the paper towel moist and keep the jar in a sunny place. Watch up close as it sprouts and becomes a seedling. Variations of this simple experiment can be to withhold sunlight and/or water and see whether the seed sprouts.

GROW A PUMPKIN IN A PUMPKIN:

We read the book Pumpkin Jack every Fall, and I love how it demonstrates the life cycle of the pumpkin plant. Here we filled the top of a pumpkin with soil, provided water and sunshine and watched for it to sprout.

SPROUT A CORN COB:

While studying the needs of living things in science class, we came across a dried corn cob in a field and brought it home. We put it in about an inch of water in a shallow dish in a sunny spot and watched as it sprouted over a couple of weeks. The water in the dish was refreshed every couple of days. It was a great opportunity to make observations of the changes in the corn every day!

WHY DO PINECONES OPEN AND CLOSE?

Have you ever wondered why pine cones open and close? Next time you are out on a nature walk, collect some pine cones. Have your child put one in hot water, one in cold water, and leave one dry and make your predictions about what will happen. All three that we collected were wide open and within about 24 hours of being in the water we observed that they had closed. Pine cones contain seeds, and they open when the conditions are warm and dry and most favourable for their seeds to disperse.