![]() The capsules of violet, columbine, witch hazel and jewelweed burst open when they mature, propelling the seeds through the air. Some plants use force to eject their seeds from spring-loaded containers. Seeds and their containers use wind, water, animals or mechanical means to reach new locations. Seeds need to move away from the parent plant to avoid competition for sunlight, water, nutrients, and space, and they have many ways to travel. Valued as a food source of humans and livestock, other plants in the legume family include alfalfa, peanuts, lentils, clover, and soybeans. As the pod dries out, it splits along a seam to release the seeds. Looking at a bean or pea we can see a slight depression, called the hilum, where it was attached to the pod. Plants in the legume family, like peas and beans, enclose their seeds in pods, arranged in a single row. Nuts like acorns and beechnuts are seeds enclosed in woody fruits. A fruit may enclose just one seed (like a sunflower seed) or many (like a milkweed pod.) If a whole group of fruits grow close together, as in Queen Anne’s lace or goldenrod, we call it a seed head. However, many plants produce dry woody or papery fruits. When we think of a fruit, we may imagine the soft, fleshy varieties that satisfy our palates, like apples, melons, or berries. In the in flowering plants, which dominate the world’s vegetation, seeds form and ripen inside the flower’s ovary, which then matures into a container called a fruit. In conifers, the seeds are formed inside the cones, which enlarge and protect but don’t fully enclose them. The root ( radicle) extends down into the soil to absorb water and nutrients, the stem ( hypocotyl) grows upward, and the leaves ( plumule) open to capture sunlight and make food for the plant by photosynthesis. In suitable conditions the embryo begins to grow, and its parts absorb water and grow quickly. Together, the embryo and cotyledon(s) are enclosed and protected by a seed coat. Beans and maples are examples of Dicots, plants that produce seeds with two cotyledons. Some plants, like corn, iris, and lily, are referred to as Monocots, having just one cotyledon. The seed contains an embryo, the tiny beginning of a new plant, and it is usually equipped with at least some nutrients for the embryo, stored in starchy tissue called the cotyledon. Spring-loaded seed capsules, like those in jewelweed, are just one of the many fascinating seed dispersal mechanisms found in plants.Ī seed is the fertilized, ripened ovule of a cone-bearing plant ( gymnosperm) or a flowering plant ( angiosperm). It needs those seeds to reach a place where they can grow. Producing seeds for the next generation is only part of a plant’s job. ![]() This child is inadvertently helping with an important part of a plant’s life cycle, the dispersal of its seeds. As she reaches in to touch one, it suddenly bursts open and ejects a seed, startling and delighting her. Wandering through a meadow, a child stops by a jewelweed plant, on the lookout for its plump seed pods. Seed Showcase and Fruit Snack – Need to bring own seeded snacks and knife to cut them.You’ll also need some paper and pencils from your classroom so the kids can make notes The seeds will be in the Four Winds closet but you will need to pick up enough for each student to have one when you’re in the classroom. Seed look and journal activity requires that you soak lima beans overnight.Seed Backpacker – Whichever adult is getting dressed up as a seed needs to have a jacket (materials list says rain jacket but that’s not critical.).This time around there is a little prep that needs to happen before you head into the classroom: Everything linked here will be available on the cart: Here are links to the materials you might find helpful to review before you arrive in the classroom. The official Four Winds overview is below.
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