SEED SENSE IDAHO BOTANICAL GARDEN HAVE FUN WITH SEEDS

SEED SENSE IDAHO BOTANICAL GARDEN HAVE FUN WITH SEEDS INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVE: Students will develop an awareness of seeds and realize their importance in our environment.

Dear Teachers / Group Leaders, INTRODUCTION Idaho Botanical Garden is an outdoor learning environment. We want to make your visit comfortable and enjoyable, and ask that your students are dressed appropriately for the weather and have water, especially in the warm weather months. ABOUT SEEDS A seed is a package (seed coat) containing a baby plant (embryo) and a food supply (endosperm). Each student will dissect a seed to see these structures during the garden tour. There are two classes of seed plants. The gymnosperms, such as the pine, produce naked seeds that have no outer covering. The angiosperms, such as the apple, have a protective covering around the seed called a fruit. Students will see examples of both gymnosperms (conifers) and angiosperms (flowering plants) during the garden tour. The mission of a seed is to grow into a mature plant that produces more seeds. To grow, a seed needs moisture, air, warmth and sometimes light. When the embryo inside the seed begins to grow, the seed coat splits and germination occurs. Germination may occur after a long or short sleeping period (dormancy). An embryonic root appears and grows downward into the soil to become the primary root, the main root of the plant. Soon a growing shoot appears, and its stem and other leaves, called true leaves, develop upward. The young shoot and its leaves continue to grow into a mature plant, a process that may take a few weeks or many years.

Dispersal occurs when a seed travels away from its parent plant into the environment. Dispersal may be a few inches or many miles. Advantages of dispersal include lessening plant crowding and allowing plants to have a wide distribution. If something in one area kills all of the plants of that type, others that have traveled away from the area will survive. Because of their concentrated food supply of starch, fat and/or protein, seeds are a favorite food of many animals including man. These are some examples of seeds we eat: wheat, rice, corn, walnuts, beans, peanuts, coffee, cocoa, nutmeg and other spices. Soybeans are rich in oil and protein while lima beans contain starch and protein. SEED TRIVIA 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 Idaho will only germinate after a fire rages over it. It 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 1954. The smallest seeds are those found in orchids. Four million dust like seeds have been counted in a single fruit. Early settlers used the fuzz of the cattail for bedding. It can be used as insulation against cold when stuffed into boots. Cocklebur seeds found within burs are edible. Indians included cocklebur seed 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 that can be found in specialty cooking. Processed foods contain many hidden seeds. Seed spices such as mustard, nutmeg, and cumin are used as flavoring in cooked foods. Poppy and sesame seeds are used as decoration on breads and cakes. Baked goods contain flours, the ground seeds or fruits of wheat, corn, rye or oats. Pressed seeds or fruits, such as soy, peanut or sunflower, produce oils. TERMS 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 stored food, found only flowering seed plants.

Gymnosperm: A seed plant producing seeds that have no outer covering. Angiosperm: A seed plant producing seeds that have an outer covering called a fruit. Fruit: In angiosperms, the part of the plant containing the seeds. Germination: The beginning of growth of the plant embryo from the seed. Dormancy: A condition of stopped 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 portions, such as the stem and leaves, of a young plant. 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: Founder of the Idaho Botanical Garden, with a doctorate in botany. SEED ART Create a name tag to wear on your tour of the Idaho 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 showing a fruit containing its seeds. Color 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.

SEED WORD SEARCH Circle the key terms. Find them by reading forward, up, down, or diagonally. The terms: Seed Seed Coat Embryo Germinate Cotyledon Endosperm Dispersal Botany Leaf Fruit

SEED PLANTING ACTIVITIES 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 seed 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, corn, 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 enough to burn 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., and 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. Include a variety such as beans, ivy, avocado, corn. What happens? What if you just leave them in the water? Will they grow? THE OLD SOCK DRAG Most plants produce an abundance of seeds, but only 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. If 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 from the Seed Dispersal unit developed by the Outdoor Biology Instructional Strategies (OBIS) Project. OBIS offers educational activities designed especially for community and school groups in a variety of outdoor settings. DO THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES AFTER YOUR VISIT TO THE GARDEN SEED AND SEEDLING PARTS Here are several drawings of seeds and seedlings. Study the following parts:

SEEDS 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. In 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 ANIMALS EAT Animals also like to eat seeds. Make a list of animals that eat seeds and the seeds they like to eat. Animal Seed Teacher: Please see answer sheet at end of packet.

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 seeds 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 help you 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 the number of seeds. Find the average number of seeds per flower. Average number of = Total seeds on 10 flowers Seeds per flower 10 flowers

SEED RESEARCH AND REPORT Cultivated bananas produce no seeds. Write a report explaining how bananas are raised. SEED RESEARCH AND REPORT 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: Stand on a chair and throw a winged seed in the air. Measure the distance the seed traveled. Record your data: Throw another seed in the air and measure the distance it traveled. Record your data Which seed traveled the farthest? 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: Blow on the top of a dandelion fluff. Measure how far the seeds traveled. Record your data: Wet a fluffy dandelion top. Blow on the wet top. How far did the seeds travel? When dandelion seeds are scattering, what kind of weather would be best? Pretend that you are a seed. Describe how you will travel away from your parent plant? Conclusion (What did we do and why?):

ANSWERS Key for Seed Word Search activity: 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, pomegranate, pumpkin Example of possible answers to Seed Animals Eat activity: bird/sunflower seed, horse/corn, insect/oat, squirrel/acorn

2nd Grade: IDAHO COMMON CORE STANDARDS Standard 1: Nature of Science Goal 1.2. Objective 1: 2.S.1.2.1 Goal 1.3. Objective 1: 2.S.1.3.1 Goal 1.4. Objective 1: 2.S.1.4.1 Goal 1.5: Objective 1: 2.S.1.4.1 Goal 1.6: Objective 1: 2.S.1.6.1, Objective 2:2.S.1.6.2, Objective 3: 2.S.1.6.3, Objective 4: 2.S.1.6.4 Goal 1.7: Objective 1: 2.S.1.7.1 Goal 1.8: Objective 1: 2.S.1.8.1 Standard 3: Biology Goal 3.2: Objective 1: 2.S.3.2.1 3rd Grade: Standard 1: Nature of Science Goal 1.1: Objective 1: 3.S.1.1.1 Goal 1.2: Objective 1: 3.S.1.2.1, Objective 2: 3.S.1.2.2 Goal 1.5: Objective 1: 3.S.1.5.1 Goal 1.6: Objective 1: 3.S.1.6.1, Objective 2: 3.S.1.6.2, Objective 3: 3.S.1.6.3, Objective 4: 3.S.1.6.4, Objective 5: 3.S.1.6.5, Objective 6: 3.S.1.6.6, Objective 7: 3.S.1.6.7 Goal 1.8: Objective 1.3.S.1.8.1 Standard 3: Biology Goal 3.1: Objective 1: 3.S.3.1.1 Goal 3.2: Objective 1: 3.S.3.2.1