Seeds

Key Topics/Vocabulary: Seed Coat, Germination, Cotyledon, Endosperm, Roots, New Leaves, Photosynthesis, Embryo

Grade Levels: 3rd - 6th

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Spanish Lesson Plan

Science Framework

Lesson Video

Lesson Overview:  

In this lesson, students will explore seeds and learn that each one contains all the information and potential to grow into healthy, thriving plants for our garden. By dissecting  a variety of soaked seeds, students will learn important vocabulary words that will help us to understand plant development.

Suggested Activities and Learning Objectives by Grade Level:

• 4:

• 4-LS1-1 How does each part of the plant support survival, growth and reproduction?

Essential Question(s) that Connect CCCs and SEPs:

• Why is it important for a seed to have a seed coat? (Structure and Function; Construct Explanations and design Solutions).
• Why do you think some seeds are bigger than other seeds? (Scale, Proportion and Quantity; Asking Questions and Defining Problems).
• What ways do seeds change when you plant them and give them water? (Stability & Change: Asking Questions and Defining problems)
• Can a seed photosynthesise? How does a seed get its energy? (Energy & Matter; Asking Questions & Defining Problems).
• How do seeds move? (Cause & Effect; Asking Questions & Defining Problems).
• How do differences in seed structure affect the way seeds move? (Cause & Effect; Structure & Function; Asking Questions & Defining Problems).

Vocabulary:

Seed Coat- The protective outer coat of a seed

Germination- The process of a seed beginning to grow

Cotyledon- The first leaves of a plant, folded inside of the seed

Endosperm- Food storage inside of the seed, the plants first meal when it begins to grow

Roots- The part of the plant that is hidden under ground and gathers water and food for the plant

New Leaves- The leaves that the plant begins to grow after it emerges from the ground.

Photosynthesis- The process in which plants make their own food from sunlight.

Embryo- The very beginning stage of life for a plant, the embryo is within the seed.

Materials:

• A variety of large seeds (Fava Beans, corn seeds, and sunflower seeds are good choices)
• Seed Dissection Worksheet or a blank sheet of paper
• Hand sanitizer
• Potting soil (optional if you choose to follow up with a seed planting activity).
• Clipboards
• Paper
• Series #2 Garden Journal (optional)

Prep:

This lesson can easily take place inside or outside.  Having a whiteboard and ample sitting space for the dissection activity is needed.

• Soak seeds in water about 12 hours prior to activity so they can be easily dissected. Bring to class.  If conducting the optional adaptation for 3rd-5th graders, soak one type of bean for a variety of different time periods ie. one batch for 5 days, one batch for 3 days, and one batch wrapped in damp paper towels for one day.
• Familiarize yourself with basic seed anatomy and drawing the structures (refer to the diagram example below).

Activity Procedure:

Engage:

Greet your class with a riddle to get them thinking about what the day’s lesson will be.

Read: Seed Riddle by Laurel Anderson

I appear dead before I am alive

Although often quite small, I can have a tree inside

I can be large as a football or small as flea

Both humans and animals eat me

Food and water I can live without

I can survive freezing, fires and drought!

I can swim and fly!

What am I? 

(Answer: a seed!)

After sharing the answer to the riddle, ask students how the riddle is true. What type of seeds do we eat? How do seeds swim? What kinds of seeds fly? What seed is as large as a football (a coconut).

Explore:

Hand out a collection of different types of seeds for the students to handle and observe. These can be the same ones that you have soaked for seed dissection or other ones saved from the garden. If there are plants that have gone to seed in your garden, you can encourage students to observe the seeds on the plants. Ask the class to share what they notice about the seeds. What do they feel like? What do they look like? What color are they? What shape are they? What things about them are different from the other seeds? What things about them are the same?

Explain:

Think, Pair, Share: If a seed starts growing underground without sunlight, where does it get its first energy to grow from?

Draw a diagram of the seed on the whiteboard and describe the function of each part (use the image at the end of this lesson for a reference). Learn new vocab:

Seed coat: The outer covering that protects a seed and keeps it insulated in extreme temperatures.

Cotyledons: The first two lobes that pop out of the ground. They look like leaves but do not turn sunlight into energy for the plant (photosynthesis). They have starches that provide energy for the plant to make its first “true leaves” that photosynthesize.

True Leaves: (see previous sentence).

Dichot: A seed that has 2 leaves when it sprouts. Can you think of an example of a Dichot?

Monocot: A seed with 1 leaf when it sprouts. What seeds only have one leaf when they sprout? (Grass).

Thumbs up/down: Is corn a monocot?

Yes, corn is a monocot! When you plant a kernel all that sticks up from the ground is a single blade of grass.

Germination: When a seed begins to “wake up” and grow into a plant! Take some time to define the remaining vocabulary words.

What do seeds need to grow and create healthy plants? (Water, sun, minerals in the soil, warmth, sometimes fire, or freezing temps.)

*You may have to simplify some of these vocabulary words with 3rd graders. See what they already know!

Action: 

1. Review your Garden Agreements
2. Distribute paper and clipboards
3. If you haven’t already, hand out the soaked seeds.
4. Demonstrate step by step how to do the dissection. Using your thumb and forefinger rub off the seed coat.
5. Using your thumbnail, bisect the seed in two halves.
6. Point out the starch and the small pointy part that is the cotyledon.
7. If old enough, challenge the students to identify the parts mentioned in your explanation earlier.
8. Ask them to describe what they see in their seeds.  Do you notice any patterns between different seeds? Are there any similar structures? Why might different seeds have the same internal structures? (Patterns; Asking Questions and Defining Problems)
9. Draw a diagram of a seed and all of its parts and have students follow along with you and create their diagrams.

Reflect:

What are the different parts of a seed? What do the different parts do for plants? Who can give me an example of a monocot? Dichot?

Extension Activities:

• Make mini-greenhouses and start your own seed! Refer to this lesson activity: Seeds, K-2nd
• Follow the following link to an easy activity to show kids how wild Filaree seeds drill themselves into the ground. http://joyouslessons.blogspot.com/2017/05/
• How do seeds travel?  Students learn by experimenting with a variety of seeds.  Why is it advantageous for coconuts to float, or for dandelion seeds to fly?  This lesson is an intersection of adaptations and structure and function.  Follow this lesson plan: Seed Ya Later

• Investigate How Seeds Travel