Kelly's Classroom Online: What Happens When You Plant Birdseed? STEM Experiment

Earlier this summer, I had an interesting conversation with one of the children in my neighborhood. She wondered out loud if birdseed were 'real seeds' and if they could be planted the same way 'real seeds' could be. This set the stage for a fun, month-long science experiment in which we tried to answer the question... what happens when you plant birdseed?

Use the scientific process to answer the question... What happens when you plant birdseed? A simple science experiment that requires minimal materials.

Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

Planting birdseed is a simple STEM activity that can help bridge any disconnect students may have about birdseed being actual seeds. It can also be integrated with any science lesson about plant life cycles, parts of plants, and food that comes from plants.

You Will Need:

To answer this question, we used materials from my garden shed:

plastic flower pot
potting soil
birdseed

Procedures

There are no complicated steps to this experiment. Simply add the potting soil to the flower pot. Sprinkle a handful of birdseed on top of the soil and gently pack it down a bit. Place the flower pot in a sunny spot and keep the soil moist.

Results

Within a week, our birdseed began to sprout and it grew quickly. The first things to grow were some grassy plants and sunflowers.

After a month, most of the grassy plants withered and died. The sunflowers, however, continued to grow and were eventually transplanted into the garden.

Conclusions

Birdseed is 'real seed.' It can be planted like 'real seeds' and will grow if you water it and keep it in a sunny place.

Fun Photos

One morning I went outside and discovered someone had decorated the plants with little lawn decorations and toy animals. What a fun and adorable surprise!