Seed Collection (Junior)

Learning Goals

By the end of the lesson, students will understand the seed dispersing processes of trees and other plants. They will also be able to determine which trees are good for planting in their environments.

Success Criteria

• I will be able to identify various ways trees/plants spread their seeds throughout the environment.
• I will be able to describe why trees/plants need to disperse their seeds.
• I will be able to determine if seeds are effective for planting.

Materials Needed

• In a Nutshell, book by Joseph Anthony
• Collection of various seeds from different plants that have different methods of dispersal
• My Tree app (downloaded to school devices)
• Optional: rake, blanket, or tarp (to make seed collection easier)
• Blank paper, scrap paper
• Drawing utensils (crayons, pencils, etc.)

Minds On (Activating Prior Knowledge)

Read the story “In a Nutshell” by Joseph Anthony, which is a story about the life cycle of an oak tree, starting as a seed. It can be found on Epic Books, which offers free accounts for teachers.

It is also available as a YouTube read aloud video:

As a class, learn about how seeds are dispersed throughout our environments.

Watch the following YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1hRxuy1ezQ

Or read this student-friendly, information packed article: https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/103-seed- dispersal#:~:text=Because%20plants%20 cannot %20walk%20around,%2C%20animals%2C%20 explosion%20and%20fire

Direct student attention to a tree (show a picture, a tree outside the classroom, etc.). Ask students:

• How did the tree get there?
• Do you see other trees of the same kind nearby?
• Are trees of the same kind related, like a family?
• Do trees have parents or children?
• How do trees “reproduce?”

Prompt students to determine that trees grow from seeds and trees spread their seeds so more trees can grow.

Gather a collection of seeds from the surrounding area ahead of class (or take students outside and have them collect seeds!). Be sure to gather a wide variety of seeds that have different methods of dispersing. Some examples include:

• a piece of fruit (animals consume the fruit, and the seed is dispersed in their waste)
• an acorn (animals like squirrels collect/bury them)
• a dandelion (wind blows and carries the seeds)
• burrs (stick to animal fur)
• lily seeds (are buoyant and are carried by water)

Show students each seed and ask:

• Do you know which plant this seed comes from?
• How does that plant disperse this seed?
• Why do plants need their seeds to travel far distances away from the original plant?
• What would happen if the plant dropped its seed right next to it?

With each seed, describe how the plant disperses it and how the seed travels through the environment. If possible, allow some time for students to engage with seeds and experiment with how they travel. For example, allow students to play with maple tree “helicopter” seeds to see how they travel by wind.

Activity (Teacher or Volunteer Lead)

Tell students that you are going to be collecting seeds to grow into trees. Download the app My Tree onto school devices (iPad, Chromebook, etc.). This app is from the Government of Canada and tells you common trees found in your specific area in Canada. Divide students into groups and have them look at different trees in your area using the app and a device.

If technology is limited, look at the app as a class and discuss some of the trees. Come up with a list of a few possible trees that you as a class could plant. Consider the time of year and trees available in your immediate surroundings. If needed, do some additional research as a class on the trees on your list. Find information such as caring for seeds, when to plant, type of climate/soil, etc. Decide which type of tree(s) you will plant.

Decide ahead of time how many seeds you want to plant (one per student, one per group of students, or one for the whole class). Ask students:

• How do you think we will collect the seeds?
• Why do you think seeds taken off the ground might not be effective for planting?

Show students examples of effective/mature seeds that are good for planting. Collect a good seed from outside ahead of time or find a photo example online.  Tip: good seeds are whole and plump. Also remind students that when collecting seeds, they need to be respectful to the tree and not cause any harm to it or to the other species they may encounter.

Go on a nature walk to a wooded area. Have students find the tree(s) you decided to plant and collect some seeds. The Science Rendezvous Million Tree Project offers some advice on collecting seeds for planting:

One free way to plant a tree is by collecting your own seeds. Picking tree seeds off of the ground is quick and easy, but it might not lead to a successful planting. That’s because fallen seeds have often been munched on by insects or fungi… or are simply too old to sprout. A better way to collect seeds is to get shaking!

1. Pick a strong, healthy looking tree and wait until autumn, when seeds are ripe.
2. Use a rake to clear the ground under the tree or spread out a blanket or tarp. This makes the seeds easier to find.
3. Grasp the trunk or low hanging branches and shake, shake, shake! Not too hard – you want to loosen the seeds without damaging the tree. For higher branches, try using a stick or pruning pole.
4. Check the seeds for quality. Whole, plump seeds are most likely to sprout.

You may want to do the shaking and allow students to pick the seeds that fall from the ground. Bring the seeds back to the classroom.

Connection + Consolidation

If you collected from various trees, have the students sort the seeds among the various trees you collected from. Then, pull up an example of what effective/mature seeds look like from the trees you collected for students to reference. Have students sort through the seeds (perhaps divide them into groups) and determine which of the seeds would be best for planting and which seeds are no good. Set the good seeds aside and return the excess seeds to the site you found them. Tell students that the next step will be to plant their seeds!

Be sure to register your seeds collected with the Million Tree Project!

Assessment

Have students select a tree seed that they learned about today (or have them find a new tree seed and do some research). Have students draw the seed and write a short description about how the seed is dispersed by the plant and how it travels. For more advanced students, have them do this for multiple seeds. Give students the option to be creative and write a song, comic, poem, play, or story about the seed, instead!

Modifications for Online Learning

The minds on activity above can be used for online learning! Read the story to students (or show the YouTube video), learn about seeds through the YouTube video or article, and prepare various plant seeds ahead of time to show students how plants disperse their seeds. As an extension activity, ask students to go look for seeds in their surrounding environments (with guardian permission!).

For the activity, show the My Tree app to students and review some trees that are good for planting in your community/habitat. Collect some good tree seeds ahead of time and show them to students, explaining what effective seeds look like (they are whole and plump). Encourage students to search for tree seeds in their surrounding environment (with guardian permission!). Afterwards, allow them to show you what they collected and discuss whether the seed is effective or not.

Extension Actvities

• Give students a sock and instruct them to put it on the outside of their shoe. Have them run around a wooded area, and then inspect the sock. Have students identify what kinds of seeds stuck to the sock. This represents how seeds travel by sticking to animal fur. This can also be done by sticking seeds to an individual sock/glove and showing students.
• Collect various seeds and show them to students. Have them make predictions about which seed will be the best flyer, which seeds won’t fly at all, etc. Place the seeds underneath a book on a table. Face a fan towards the table and turn it on. Remove the book. See which seeds fly, float, stay the same, etc. Determine which seeds have a “better” design for air travel than others.
• Create a pinecone weather station! All you need is a healthy pinecone. Pinecones naturally open when the weather is dry so the wind can pick up the seeds and disperse them. If it is going to rain, the pinecones detect humidity in the air and close up to protect their seeds. Hang a pinecone outside a window in your classroom or place it in an outdoor windowsill so it is visible from your classroom. Have students observe when it is open or shut!
• Bring in an arborist or another local expert to talk about the best trees to plant! Have students plan a list of questions to ask ahead of time.
• For more information about seed collecting, take a look at the Million Tree Project online