We continued our study of plants today by dissecting seeds. Almost half the class was away today and so this post is a way to share our discoveries with our friends who were sick.

First we completed an anticipation guide full of interesting statements about  seeds.  We had to decide if the statements were true or false.  Try a few for yourself (you can find the answers at the bottom of this post):

T  F       1.  All plants produce seeds.

T  F       2.  The outside covering is called the seed coat.

T  F       3.  Some seeds can wait two thousand years before they begin to grow.

Next, we made observations after looking carefully at dried lima beans and ones that had been soaked over night.  We compared the two and tried to predict what the inside of the seed would look like.

Finally, we carefully dissected the seeds identifying the different parts and discussing their jobs.

Here are a few of the cool facts we learned today:

Jenny-If the seed coat doesn’t break the plant won’t grow. Some plants grow very quick. The seed needs its food supply.
Fay-The seed coat won’t break unless the seed gets enough water to expand and break out. Some seeds can wait up to 2000 years before they begin to grow. The seed needs water and the right temperature to grow.
Silkence-The seed has a coat so that it will be protected from disease and insects. There is an embryo inside the seed. The embryo looks like a big pokey thing.
Ana-A seed needs to have water and if it doesn’t it won’t grow.
Dante-The food supply is almost the whole lima bean.
Justin-It needs the right temperature in the ground to grow.
Niall-Seeds have their own food supply until they can make their own food.
Jordan-The lima bean has all the food it will need until it can grow and then it will make its own food. The temperature has to be right for the plant to grow or it will die. Plants can grow very, very slow. The lima bean has a little curve at the top of it and you can see the root growing.
Quang-The lima bean had a lunch pack just like the baby salmon did so it can grow.
Oceana-If you put a lima bean in water overnight it will expand.

How did you do with your predictions?

(Questions 1,2, and 3 are all true)

Have you ever looked closely at the inside of a seed?

If you would like to read more about the seed that waited 2000 years to grow, click here.