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1 -- ~ '. ~:-;r--,-,,,-,,' ~ "",,'-'-*' '-- --,--, ----, ; SEED SENSE 1!' j :1 ;1!, the ida1lo Botanica41 Ga~rd :il & WO!Fld[sYour Cartien Pro~\@ot " i,- ~!,, 'H1\. E",.'..FUN/"!lli, 'nstructiona1 Object.ive: StNdents will' develop an awa>relilessof seeds and reaihzet:heir.im,p@rtance,in our environmemt.,i ',' i,~.: '"i i ' i i, "i,s,. ': 'L- _.""""'-'~ ---, ~'o:'ib---~ ---"'--,/,,~._....-

2 ~ A seed is a paokage (seed coat) coflta>i,ninga baby plant (embryo) and a food s1!lpply (endosperm). Eac!:l student wim dissect a seed to see t!:lese stmctures during the garden tour. There a1etwo classes of seed plants. The gymnosperms, suc!:l as t!:lepine, pnvduce ",naked seeds",that kave no outer cove.r1ng. TDeangiosperms, such as the apple,!:lave a protective covering around the seed called a fruit. Students w<illsee examples Gf bot!:l gyn'l.l1<osperms(col<hers)and angiosperms (flowering plants) dluing the garden tour. The.rnissiOffi:of a seed is to grow ifl,toa mat1.>1!re pl'ant tha~tproduces more seeds. To grgw,a seed needsmoishlre, air, warm1.t;ha}d sometimes light!'. W!:len t!:le,embryo inside the seed begins to grow, bfleseed coat splits and germination occurs. Germi\!1ation may occur after a long or s!:lort sleeping period (dormancy). An embryonic root appears and grows dmvnward into t!:le soil to 'become t!:le primary root, the main root or the plaill1t. Soon a growing shoot appears, aioldits ste-dand other l~eaves, called true leaves, deve10p upward. The young shoob and its leaves continhe to grow into a ~mature planl, a process that rnay take a few weeks or many years. Vis'persal occutrswmen a seed travels away from itsrarent plant into the environment. D,ispersal may 'be a few inc!:les or many miles. Advantages of dispersal include lessening plant crowding and allowing plants to!:lavea wide chstribution. ;fsomething in one area killisan of' the plants of that.type, ubhers t!:lait!:lavetraveled away trom t!:learea will survive. Because of their concentrated food supply of starch, fat and/ or protein, seeds are a favorite food of lilany animals including man. T!:lese are some examples of seeds we eat: w!:leat, rice, corn, walnuts, 'beans, peanuts, coffee, cocoa, nutmeg and othe' spices. SoybeaLls aire rich in oil and protein while brna beans contain starch and proteiil.. ~--==...",--- ~:f3~~?f:;;;.~ "","c.

3 SEED TRVA 1. The largest seed in the world, the coconut, is a long-distance traveler. Coconuts have been known to float in the ocean for thousands of miles, to germinate in a distant land.. Some seeds need fire to be released from their cone. One seed found in daho will only germinate after a fire rages over it. t is the seed of a tall, slender pine tree, the lodgepole pine.. The oldest seeds found are believed to be between 10,000 and 15,000 years old. The seeds of the Arctic Lupine were found frozen in the Yukon in The smallest seeds are those found in orchids. Four million dustlike seeds have been counted in a single fruit.. Early settlers used the "fuzz" of the cattail for bedding. t can be used as insulation against cold, stuffed into boots.. Cocklebur seeds found within burs are edible. ndians included cocklebur seeds in their diet.. Chocolate is made from the seeds of a cacao, a tropical fruit.. Over half a million tons of peanut seeds are used to make peanut butter each year.. Seeds from certain pine trees are delicious nuts in specialty cookies.

4 Botanical garden: a place where plants are collected and displayed for scientific, educational and artistic purposes. Botany: the study of plants. Seed: a fertilized plant egg containing a baby plant and its food supply (a little plant in a box with its lunch). Seed coat: the outer layer of the seed. Embryo: the baby plant within the seed, before germination. Endosperm: tissue of the seed containing flowering seed plants. Gymnosperm: a seed plant producing Angiosperm: a seed plant producing called a fruit. Fruit: in angiosperms, stored food, found only in seeds that have no outer covering. seeds that have an outer covering the part of the plant containing the seeds. Germination: the beginning of growth of the plant embryo from the seed. Dormancy: a condition of st9pped growth, sometimes called a resting stage, of seeds and buds. Primary root: the main root of a plant formed from the root tip of the embryo. Cotyledon: the seed leaf, or first leaf of the embryo. Growing shoot: the main above-ground leaves, of a young plant. portions, such as the stem and Leaf: a plant part that receives light and uses it to produce food for the plant. Dispersal: movement of seeds or fruits away from the parent plant. Environment: the surroundings of a living thing, including the plants and animals with which it lives. Flower: the reproductive parts of a seed-bearing plant, busy workshops that make the plant's seeds. Among the functions of a flower are attraction of pollinating insects, production of pollen, and production of seeds. Dr. Christopher Davidson: doctorate in botany. founder of the daho Botanical Garden, with a

5 3.. THESE ACTVTES ARE SUGGESTED FOR USE BEFORE THE TOUR SEED ART Create a name tag to wear on your tour of the daho Botanical Garden. Your tour guide will need to know who you are. Cut a piece of index paper (file card stock) measuring approximately four inches by three inches. Cut out one of the pictures below showi~g a fruit containing its seeds. Color the fruit and seeds different colors. Paste the colored picture to your name tag, leaving room for your first name. Write your first name on the name tag. Use a safety pin to pin on your name tag just before you leave school to go to the Garden.

6 SEED WORD SEARCH 4 Circle the key terms. diagonally. Find them by reading forward, up, down, or X B K G E R M N A T E H F H D P F R U T N B F N G L S WAOQY 0 W L D M P A S L F C U T D C R 0 P N T P A U E R A 0 E A T S R X R E Q S N S P L M N P WA L R 0 Y L Y E Y 0 B E Z F S E E D C 0 A T L R B C Y A 0 V H N P OMDMY T Z L E M A M' D T C F E G D 0 The tern1s: Seed Seed Coa t Embryo Gern1ina te Cotyledon Endosperm Dispersal Botany Leaf Fruit :~~~

7 ..SEEDPLANTNGACTVTES Line the entire inside of a clear plastic cup with paper towels. Moisten the towels. Fill the cup with soil, sand or gravel to keep the towels next to the plastic. Slide seeds between the paper towels and the inside of the cup. Keep the towels moist, but not soggy. Place in a dark cupboard. Periodically take out cup to see the sprouting seeds. Discover seeds in a variety of fruits and vegetables. Plant some of these in potting soil mix to see if they will grow. Place in a sunny window, keep soil moist. Examples: apple, avocado, bean, com, peanut, pear, plum, olive, pea, peach, sunflower seed, tomato. Plant seeds in potting soil mix that has graduated amounts of fertilizer, increasing it until you have one with enougli to "bum" the plants. Be sure to plant enough seeds to eliminate the possibility of faulty ones. Plant seeds in different types of soil- some in sand, pumice, alkaline, etc. See what happens.. Plant seeds in potting soil mix that is very loose, tightly compacted, and in soil that feels about right. Note the characteristics in growth of the plants in the different soils. Place seeds in water only. nclude a variety such as beans, ivy, avocado, com. What happens? What if you just leave them in the water? Will they grow? Add several kinds of pollutants to the water used for the seeds, such as: bleach, soap, colorings, vinegar, salt, and so forth. What happens?

8 Most plants produce an abundance of seeds, but only a few grow into adult plants. Even fewer seeds would mature if they weren't dispersed away from the parent plant. Here's an activity that will show you how some of the plants in your area disperse their seeds. You'll need a clean, old sock (the fuzzier the better), a pot of potting soil mix (sterile), and a field full of weeds. Wear, or drag, the sock through the weeds in the field. f you use one of your parent's old socks, you might be able to wear it over your shoes. Plant the sock in the pot just like it's a seed. Water it regularly. Soon you'll have a weed garden. How many different kinds of seeds did you collect in your sock? This activity was adapted frorn the "Seed Dispersal" unit developed by the Outdoor Biology nstructional Strategies (OBS) Project. OBS offers. educational activities designed especially for community and sc~ool groups in a variety of outdoor settings. 6

9 THESE A~TVT1ES ARE SUGGESTED FOR USE AFTER THE TOUR Tru SEED AND SEEDLNG PARTS Here are several drawings of seeds and seedlings. Study the following parts: Seed coat Embryo Endosperm Primary root Cotyledon Growing shoot Stern True leaf ' ().. ", 1 ~ Seed Coat ~ ~..~.. " '~".~.' '..~ ~ ;,.. r..,\. Embryo it::.:,'... '\....t,.;~.! '... 1 ".-:'~~::, ; i. ',:'; \1 ' '. Cotyledon \'. ~ L',j Seed Coat Cotyledons Bean " 0 Endosperm _Stem Growing Shoot Corn 7

10 SEEDS W.E EAT. A grocery store is full of seeds people eat. Seeds can be found in the section where spices are displayed and where vegetables are kept. n addition, a grocery store stocks foods that are made from seeds. Ask your mom or dad to take you to the grocery store for a seed search. Make a list of the seeds you found. Teacher: Please see answer sheet at end of packet. SEEDS ANMALS EAT Animals also like to eat seeds. seeds they like to eat. Animal Make a list of animals that eat seeds and the Seed Teacher: Please see answer sheet at end of packet. \8

11 SEED STORY OR POEM Pretend you are a bur, which is a seed in a fruit with hooks, spines, hairs, or sticky covering. Tell the story of your travels after you became stuck on a bear, dog, cat, rabbit or other animal. Draw a picture to go with your story.. ~ ~ SEED MATH How many seeds does one dandelion flower produce? Find dandelion flowers that have gone to seed. They are white and fluffy. Collect 10, preserving all the se~ds by putting a small plastic bag over the flower and grasping the bag around the flower stem before removing the dandelion. Ask a classmate to 1;lelpyou count the fruits (or seeds) on each of the 10 dandelions. One fruit is a seed with its parachute, so the number of fruits will equal ~he number of seeds. Find the average number of seeds per flower. Average number of seeds per flower = Total seeds on 10 flowers 10 flowers 'c ~.....:{ "f~:~1. ',..\.,.~..,~ :.~:,'" ~"'.,. '' :~!;t \ ~ \'- SEED RESEARCH AND REPORT Cultivated bananas produce no seeds. Write a report explaining how bananas are raised.

12 SEED TRAVEL GUDE Purpose: To see how far seeds travel. (One fruit is a seed with its wings or parachutes, so the number of fruits will equal the number of seeds.) Materials: tape measure winged tree seeds: maple or ash (helicopter seed) chair fluffy dandelion tops (parachute seed) Procedure for Helicopter Seed Experiment: 1. Stand on a chair and throw a winged seed in the air. 2. Measure the distance the seed traveled. 3. Record your data: 4. Throw another seed in the air and measure the distance it traveled. Record your data: 5. Which seed traveled the farthest? 6. Break the wing off a seed and throw it in the air. How far does a seed travel after the wing is broken off? Procedure for Parachute Seed Experiment: 1. Blow on the top of a dandelion fluff. 2. Measure how far the seeds traveled. 3. Record your data: 4. Wet a fluffy dandelion top. 5. Blow on the wet top. 6. How far did the seeds travel? 7. When dandelion seeds are scattering, what kind of weather would be best? 8. Pretend that you are a seed. Describe how you will travel awayfron.your parent plant? Conclusion (What did we do and why?): 1

13 FLMS, KTS AND BOOKS The following materials are available to Boise schoolteachers and may be checked out from the nstructional Media Center, Boise Schools: KEY P = primary E =elementary =juniorhigh S = senior high PE MP 1379 PE MP 5194 PE MP 1329 PE MP 1307 PES MP 5604 PES MP 9159 E MP 1165 FLMS Plants that Grow from Leaves, Stems and Roots (also available in videotape) Plant Through the Seasons: Apple Tree What Do Flowers Do: A First Film Plants and Their mportance Secrets of the Plant World Nature's Half Acres (also available in videotape) Plants Make Food KTS P S Plants (Singer) P S92 Ways of 'lants PE S86 Plant Kingdom Classification Set E S 125 ES S 107 nterrelationships Talking Flower in Nature The following books are available from the Boise Public Library: KEY. E =3rd grade and under BOOKS =4th-6th grade AD =Adult R =Reference NW =Northwest Dewey # E Fic E Fie E Fie E Fie Author Ginsberg Hutchins, Pat Lobel, Ani ta Rylant, Cynthia Title MU5hroom in the Rain Titch The Rose in My Garden This Yea's Garden

14 Dewey # E 582 E Hutchins 581 Went Author KirkpatTick, Rena Challand, Helen- Alexander, Taylor Hutchins, Ross Went, Frits Selsam, Millicent Lauber, Patricia ohnson, Sylvia Pringle, Laurence Rahn, oan Elrna Selsam, Millicent Dowden, Anne O. Lauber, PatTicia Coldrey, ennifer Overbeck, Cynthia Selsam, Millicent Title Look at Seeds and Weeds Plants Withou t Seeds Botan)': The Amazing. Seeds The Plants Eat the FruitLPlant the Seed Seeds. Pop. Stick. Glide Mosses Being. a Plant Grocery Store Botany The Tomato and Other Fruit V~etables Wild Green Things in the City From Fower to Flower: Animals and Pollination Discovering Flowering Plants Sunflowers Bulbs. Corms andsuch AD 581 Novak, F.A. Pictorial Encyclopedia of Plants and Fowers AD Simpson, Belyl Economic Botany: Plants in OurWorld AD Harrington, H.D. How To dentif)': Plants AD NW AD Davis, Ray TuB, Delena Flora Qf daho A Practical Guide to Edible & Useful Plants AD R AD R Chinery, Michael Science Dictionary of theplant World Tootill, Elizabeth Facts on File Dktionary of Botany 1 2

15 '" - -ANSWERS.~ Key for "Seed Word Search" activity: G E R M N A T E D F R U T N B N 0 D S F T D 0 P A A ' E S E N L M P L R Y Y B E S E E D C 0 A T R A 0 M Y L C 0 Example of possible answers to "Seeds We Eat" activity: corn, wheat, oat, pea, bean, sesame, poppy, caraway, coconut, walnut, peanut, nutmeg, coffee, cocoa, sunflower, rye, rice, mustard Example of possible answers to "Seeds Animals Eat" activity: bird/sunflower seed, horse/corn, insect/oat, squirrel/acorn nstructional Committee: oyceallen, Carol Coate, Ann Harrigan, ohn Schultz, and RickVeatch Editors: Dr. Christopher Davidson, Dr. Claude A. Hanson, and Sally Trott Designer: Sally Trott SEED SENSE A collaboration between the daho Botanical Garden and the Boise. ndependent School District daho BotanicalGarden 2355Old Penitentiary Road. P. O. Box2140. Boise,daho (208)