Seeds of Life 8

Investigating Seeds TEACHER NOTES

Fairfax County Elementary Science Program of Studies

SCI G4
1.a The student will plan and conduct investigations in which distinctions are made
among observations, conclusions, inferences and predictions.
2. Apply the terms observation, conclusion, inference and prediction (4.1.a)

4.a The student will understand the structures of typical plants (leaves, stems, roots and
flowers).
2. Explain the functions of the parts of a flower (4.4.a)

4.b The student will understand processes and structures involved with reproduction
(pollination, stamen, pistil, sepal, embryo, spore, and seed).
3. Explain that ferns and mosses reproduce with spores rather than seeds (4.4.b)

4.d The student will understand dormancy.

1. Explain the role of dormancy for common plants.

Links to Other Disciplines

ELA.G4
1.b Contribute to Group Discussions (seed germination activity)
5.d Make Simple Inferences, Using Information from Texts (Application question)
5.e Draw Conclusions, Using Information from Texts (Application question)
5.g Describe Relationship Between Content and Previously Learned Skills (Application
question)

Science Process Skills

Observing, measuring, communicating

Unifying Concepts and Processes (NSES)

Change, constancy, and measurement

Lesson Overview 45 minutes (Germinating Seeds

Students observe bean seeds before and Observation)
after germination. By watching Fresh 45 minutes (Summary and Application)
Science: Plants DVD sections and teacher
discussion, the students learn about seeds Student Materials
and seed dispersal. lima bean seeds
paper towels*
Suggested Time Petri dishes
45 minutes (Initial Seed Observation) hand lenses
45 minutes (Fresh Science DVD) permanent marker*
metric ruler*

Science… Just Do It! T155

Investigating Plants
Seeds of Life 8
Investigating Seeds TEACHER NOTES

(Items with * are not in the kit)

Preparation
; Prepare materials so students work in
teams of two.
; Find a space in the classroom to place
up to 16 Petri dishes with germinating
seeds. The Petri dishes will have to be
there for at least two days.
; Photocopy the Student Information
Sheets about ferns and mosses. If
colored pictures are desired, they can
be downloaded from Gateways in the
4th grade science section.
; Preview and note Fresh Science:
Plants DVD and Teacher’s Guide for
correlated video segments.
; Photocopy the Tic-Tac-Toe key term
grid to be used during the Reflection.

Resources
• ScienceSaurus: A Student Handbook
(Great Source Education Group)
pp. 51, 87
• “Plants” • Buffet • Lesson 4 • Part 1 •
Screen 2 • Seed, Cotyledon, Embryo,
Seed Coat Labeled (I/D) Fresh
Science: Plants. ScratchCat (2005).
[DVD and Teacher’s Guide]; Lesson 2
– Germination pp. 23-24
• “Plants” • Buffet • Lesson 4 • Part 2 •
Screen 3 • Dicot and Monocot Seeds
(I/D) Fresh Science: Plants. ScratchCat
(2005). [DVD and Teacher’s Guide];
Lesson 4 – Pollination pp. 65-69

Science… Just Do It! T156

Investigating Plants
Seeds of Life
Investigating Seeds
Key Terms
dormant
germination
seed coat
seed
spores
Essential Learnings
X A seed is a vessel that contains a tiny
undeveloped plant and a supply of food
for the plant to begin growing.
X Germination is the beginning growth
of a plant from a seed that contains the
embryo.
X Dormant means to be temporarily
inactive. In other words, a period of no
visible growth.
X Some seeds are dormant. Dormant
seeds must have specific environmental
experiences before they can germinate.
X Mosses and ferns reproduce with
spores, not seeds.
Teacher Information
The plant kingdom is divided into two
main sections: vascular plants and
nonvascular plants. Vascular plants are the
types of plants we have been studying thus
far. They are the types of plants with
vascular tissue (vein-like tubes) that carry
water and nutrients throughout the plant.
Nonvascular plants have no vascular tissue
to carry nutrients so they are relatively
small, or live in water. Nonvascular plants
that live on land are small so moisture can
get to all parts of the plant from the
outside. Therefore, nonvascular plants
must live in dark, moist areas (like the
north side of a tree). Mosses are probably
the most recognized nonvascular plant.
Mosses reproduce using spores. Spores
are tiny vessels containing only the genetic
Science… Just Do It!
Investigating Plants
8
TEACHER NOTES
material to make a new plant. Spores are
dispersed by water or wind.
Most vascular plants use seeds to
reproduce except ferns. Ferns are a
primitive type of vascular plant that
continues to rely on spores for
reproduction. Spores are easily seen on the
backs of fern leaves.
Seeds are produced by a grouping of plants
called spermatophytes; these plants
include: cycads (palm trees), Ginkgoes,
conifers (evergreens), gnetophytes (small
group of shrub and vine-like plants), and
angiosperms (flowering plants). In later
grades, students will be introduced to
cycads, Ginkgoes, conifers, and
gnetophytes, but for now they will learn
about angiosperms (flowering plants).
The seeds of flowering plants are produced
in the ovary of the flower. When the seeds
are developed enough to leave the parent
plant, they are dispersed in various ways;
some seeds have hooks to catch animal fur,
some float in the wind, some are eaten by
animals and deposited as waste.
A typical seed is comprised of an embryo,
a supply of nutrients for the embryo to
begin life, and a seed coat. An embryo is
the new plant that will begin growth under
the right conditions. In this lesson we will
be looking at bean seeds. When bean
seeds are placed in a moist environment
they begin to germinate, or sprout. Once
germination has begun, the embryo is
easily investigated. In these seeds the
embryo has two cotyledons which will
become the first leaves of the plant. There
is also an embryonic root that begins to
grow almost immediately. Two tiny leaves
are the beginnings of the shoot which are
the first true leaves of the plant.
T157
 Seeds of Life
Investigating Seeds
Germinating Bean Seed
embryonic seed
root coat
With a hand lens, you can see the root
hairs beginning to form on the young root.
seed
coat
cotyledon first true
leaves
After seed dispersal and once the seeds
have found fertile ground and the
conditions are right, they will germinate.
To germinate means to start growing from
a seed. Most seeds of wild plants have a
period of dormancy before they will
germinate. Dormant means to be
temporarily inactive of physical growth.
For seeds, this means they will not
germinate until the conditions are right.
Not all plant seeds are dormant. Plant
seeds that have been genetically
engineered such as beans (what we are
using in this lesson), corn, marigolds, and
other gardening and crop seeds do not go
dormant. These plants are specifically
designed to germinate when they are
planted in the proper temperature and with
the right amount of water.
Science… Just Do It!
Investigating Plants
8
TEACHER NOTES
Teaching Suggestions
Link
1. Ask students what seeds look like.
Have volunteers come up to the board
and draw a seed. Are all the seed
examples the same? Ask students if all
the seeds they see are the same? Seeds
are as different as the flowers they
come from. Lead a discussion with the
students about seeds, where they come
from, what they are and what they do.
Engage
2. Read the opening paragraph and focus
questions.
3. Have the students complete the Before
You Begin. When the students have
completed the questions, review the
parts of the flower with them and have
them correctly answer #2.
Active Learning
4. Students should complete the student
Directions up to Step 5. When they
are finished they should have 4 bean
seeds planted in a Petri dish with a wet
paper towel. Be sure the students’
names are indicated on the Petri dish
and place all the Petri dishes in a space
that will be undisturbed for at least two
days.
5. Using the Fresh Science: Plants DVD
and Teacher’s Guide, show the
“Plants” • Buffet • Lesson 4 • Part 1 •
Screen 2 starting with Seed,
Cotyledon, Embryo, Seed Coat
Labeled (I/D) on page 23 and ending
with Corn Seedlings at Different
Stages of Development (P) on page
24.
T158
Seeds of Life 8
Investigating Seeds TEACHER NOTES

6. Again, using the Fresh Science: Plants
DVD and Teacher’s Guide, show the
“Plants” • Buffet • Lesson 4 • Part 2 •
Screen 3 starting with Dicot and
Monocot Seeds (I/D) on page 65 and
ending with Flower Assortment on
page 69.
7. Hand out the Student Information
Sheets and have students read the
pages with a partner. Each student can
read a page, highlight the important
parts and then discuss what they have
read.
8. On the third day, have students collect
their Petri dishes and follow Steps 6 –
9 in the student pages.
9. After students have cleaned up their
work area, they should complete the
Summary and Application section of
the student pages.
Have students complete the
Application in pairs or groups of four.
2. Words are placed on the tic-tac-toe
grid in an order specified by the
teacher.
3. Students work with a partner to
make connections, or links,
between terms/ phrase in the tic-
tac-toe grid. This forms one link.
With each link, the students must
make a sentence. This may be
timed or left relatively open.
4. The pair with the greatest number
of reasonable “links” wins the
round.
5. Have students rearrange the words
(this can be specified by the teacher
or by students) and try to make
links between the words in the grid.
There is an extra grid that can be
filled out by the students or can be
filled out prior to giving to the
students. The key terms in the
plant unit are:
carbon dioxide pistil

Reflect chlorophyll pollen

10. Think-Link: Tic-Tac-Toe dormant pollination
Purpose: To make connections/links flower roots
between words using a tic-tac-toe
germination seed
grid.
leaves seed coat
Use: This activity works well as a
review of a list of Key Terms or model sepal
Essential Learnings associated ovary spores
with a lesson or unit of study.
ovule stamen
Teacher Directions: oxygen stems
1. Provide students with a list of Key
Terms or short phrases from the petal sugar
Essential Learnings. photosynthesis

Science… Just Do It! T159

Investigating Plants
Seeds of Life 8
Investigating Seeds TEACHER NOTES

Extensions/Variations:
This can be used as a whole class
activity on the overhead. Students
can also create their own tic-tac-toe
boards

Now and Then:

11. Now that they know about plants and
seeds, they can begin to make
connections between plants and the
Virginia Ecosystems, a recent unit.

Going Further
™ Sometimes a fern can be purchased in
the floral section of a local grocery
store that has spores on the backs of the
leaves. Students can bring these in and
look at the spores with a hand lens and
make drawings.
™ The Effect of Gravity on Plant Parts
from Fast Plants Teacher’s Guide
pages 1-19. Use radish seeds instead
of Wisconsin Fast Plant seeds and
paper towels instead of filter paper.
™ Students create their own experimental
design and investigate a question they
have about seeds. Identify variables
and select one as the independent
(manipulated) variable e.g., number of
seeds, amount of water, type of soil,
etc.

Reinforcement
™ The Magic School Bus Goes to Seed
(29:27) Scholastic (1994). [Motion
Picture streaming video] from
Discovery Education Streaming:
http://streaming.discoveryeducation.co
m/

Science… Just Do It! T160

Investigating Plants
 Student Information Sheet

Christmas Fern
Polystichum acrostichoides

spore

Christmas fern with spores

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton,

N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated
flora of the northern United States,
Canada and the British Possessions. Vol.
1: 16.

Ferns reproduce using spores. Spores are both like seeds and unlike seeds.
They are like seeds because they contain the genetic material to make another
fern plant. Spores are not like seeds because seeds carry an already formed
embryo (tiny plant); spores do not. Seeds also carry food to give the developing
young plant food; spores do not.

Science… Just Do It! T161

Investigating Plants
 Student Information Pages

White Cushion Moss Plant

Leucobryum glaucum

Moss plants grow close to the ground. They need constant moisture to survive.
Moss plants do not reproduce using seeds, they use spores instead. The moss
disperses the spores by growing little stalks above the moss (they look like
antennae). Inside each of the stalks are spores and when the plant is ready it
releases the spores into the wind and the spores form new moss plants where
they land.

Science… Just Do It! T163

Investigating Plants
 Think-Link: Tic-Tac-Toe
Example:
With a partner, see how many words and/or phrases you can “link” in each row (across, up,
down, diagonally) to make a reasonable sentence. Each correct sentence earns your team a
point.

chlorophyll stems photosynthesis

pollination plant water

seed flower leaves

Adapted from E. Stephens and J. Brown’s “Word Chains” Vocabulary Strategies

Science… Just Do It! T165

Investigating Plants
 Student page

Think-Link: Tic-Tac-Toe
Example:
Place the words given to you in the grid in the order specified by your teacher. With a partner,
see how many words and/or phrases you can “link” in each row (across, up, down,
diagonally) to make a reasonable sentence. Each correct sentence earns your team a point.

Adapted from E. Stephens and J. Brown’s “Word Chains” Vocabulary Strategies

Science… Just Do It! T167

Investigating Plants