In an earlier post (What Happens When You Plant Birdseed?), I described a science experiment in which some children in the
neighborhood and I grew plants from birdseed this summer. The children
'discovered' that birdseed can produce plants and those plants are able to
grow and thrive. In this blog post, I will describe another science
experiment involving seeds. This time we are going to learn about how
seeds can travel!
How Do Seeds Travel?
Even though plants are living things, they are not able to move from one place
to another. They will spend their entire life cycle where they were
planted. Their seeds, however, can travel from their parent plant to a
new place. Scientists call this seed dispersal.
Dispersal means "to spread or to scatter."
1. Some seeds fly through the air when the wind blows. Dandelion seeds
travel this way.
2. Some seeds will fall into the water. They will float in the water
until they are carried to a place where they can take root. (Did you
know that coconuts are very large seeds?)
3. When animals eat plants with seeds, the seeds get swallowed.
Later on when the animals have to "go to the bathroom," the seeds will take
root where the animals drop them. This happens a lot when birds swallow
seeds.
4. Some seeds like these burdocks are able to stick to animals' fur.
When these seeds fall off of the animals and onto the ground, they will take
root where they fall. Some people call these seeds "hitchhikers" because
they "hitch a ride" to new places.
5. Humans can also help seeds travel. We can buy seeds from the
store and plant them in the ground. Farmers will plant thousands of
seeds in the ground each spring. These newly planted seeds are already
starting to grow!
Dirty Socks Science Experiment
When learning about the different ways seeds can travel... seed dispersal... it's important to emphasize that these seeds will eventually land somewhere. Older children will understand this instinctively, but younger children may not. This simple science experiment will help them understand that seeds can be anywhere... even if we can't see them.
Materials Needed
- a pair of white socks for each child
- one sealed Ziploc bag per child
- spray bottle filled with water
Procedure
- Have the children put on the white socks and go for a walk around the outside of the school. Walk in the grass, on the sidewalk, under the trees, etc. Keep walking until those socks are dirty... the dirtier they are, the more seeds they are likely to pick up. You could even let the children have recess while wearing those socks. (Note: If you are nervous about letting the children walk and play outside in just their socks, that's OK. The children can put the socks over their shoes instead.)
- After the socks are nice and dirty, have the children take them off and lay them on the sidewalk. Spritz the socks with the water. The socks should be wet to the touch, but not saturated.
- Place the wet socks into the Ziploc bags and label the bags with the children's names.
- Hang the bags in a sunny window and wait.
- Within a few days, any seeds that are on the socks will begin to sprout.
- Depending on where you live, the best time of year to do this science demonstration will vary.
Did you enjoy learning about seed dispersal and the dirty socks STEM
experiment? If so, check out these other nature-themed posts:
- Book + Craft: Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner
- STEM: Pumpkin Life Cycle STEM Activity
- Book List: 10+ Children's Books about Animal Poop
- Book: Grow! How We Get Food from Our Garden by Karl Beckstrand
- STEM: How to Grow Celery from Scraps STEM Activity
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