Grade Level: Preschool-Kindergarten Type: Life Science
In this project children discover firsthand how animals can help distribute seeds in order to spread them across the land.
Many plants grow from seeds – their seeds are like baby plants. Seeds move around; that’s how plants start growing in new places. How do seeds move? Do mama trees push their seeds in dirt strollers? Of course not! One way seeds travel is by catching rides on animals: a seed in one place gets stuck to an animal’s fur, the animal moves, and then the seed falls off in another place. The animals help DISTRIBUTE the seeds.
- Did you catch any seeds by acting like animals in your yard (or playground or park or nature area)?
- Did some fur catch more seeds than others?
- Did different kinds of fur catch different kinds of seeds?
- Did some seeds stick to fur better than other seeds?
- What about the seeds helped them to stick?
- Scraps of fake fur in different textures
- An outdoor area with lots of plants
- Glue the scraps of fur onto the old socks.
- After the glue dries, pull the socks on over your shoes.
- Go play outside in your yard or playground or park or nature area.
- If there are more kinds of socks than kids, change socks now and then to give all the socks a try.
- At the end of your play, remove the socks and examine them carefully. Think about the research questions above.
- Talk about the plants and animals you have in your outdoor areas and how you think they help one another.
Terms/Concepts: seed, fur, distribution
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