Seed Collecting (Intermediate)

Learning Goals

Students will be able to understand concepts of biodiversity and relate them to their surrounding environments. They will be able to apply what they learned to select an appropriate tree species to collect seeds for and eventually plant.

Success Criteria

• I can identify biodiversity in local environments.
• I can explain the importance of biodiversity.
• I can understand the need for biodiversity among tree species in my community.
• I can identify tree species that will support the ecosystems in local environments.

Materials Needed

• Student journals
• Pylons or string, enough for each group
• Devices for each student/group, or use the Smart Board as a class
• My Tree app downloaded onto devices
• Smart Board
• Good planting seed from a tree, or a photo of one found online
• Optional: devices with leafsnap app
• Rake and/or blanket and/or tarp

Minds On (Activating Prior Knowledge)

Note: You may decide to break up the minds on and the activity into 2 separate days.

Take students on a nature walk to a wooded area (on school grounds, a conservation area, etc.). Have students break into partners or small groups and section off a small area of the forest using pylons or string. If you use string to tie off different areas, ensure students remove it all when they finish. Have students observe and record in a journal all of the organisms they can find in their section. If possible, allow students access to devices so they can correctly identify each species. Return to the classroom or find a spot outside to gather around. Have a discussion about the variety of living things that exist in a forest ecosystem. Ask students to list some of the species they found and count them.

• How many species did you find?
• How many different individuals of the same species did you find?

Have students consider what would happen if certain species didn’t exist.

• Do any of the species that you found rely on anything else to survive?
• What would happen if you removed one of those individuals or species from the environment?
• Would any other organisms be affected?

Ask students if they know what the term “biodiversity” means. Afterwards, explain that biodiversity is a variety of life that exists within an ecosystem. Ask students whether they would consider their section of land to be biodiverse.

Show students this video to learn more about biodiversity

You may also want to read this article about biodiversity from National Geographic:

Explain to students that they will be contributing to the biodiversity of their local environments by growing and planting different tree species in the coming months.

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 (or allow them to work individually) 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. Have each group decide on a tree that they want to collect a seed for and grow. Come up with some criteria for deciding on a species. For instance: it must be a native species, the tree must be present in the collecting area, it needs to be able to grow in your climate/conditions, etc. Students must find certain information, such as how to care for the seed they chose, when to plant, type of climate/soil needed, etc.

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 they decided to plant and collect some seeds. If needed, allow students to use the “leafsnap” app to help them find/identify their tree. 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. If you are allowing students to collect the seeds themselves, remind them of certain safety precautions. For instance, they should not climb the tree to collect their seeds, they should not wander too far from the group, etc. Bring the seeds back to the classroom.

Connection + Consolidation

Back in the classroom, have students sort through the seeds they collected. They should 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!

Have students register their seeds with the Million Tree Project.

Assessment

Have students develop a plan for their seed collecting/planting in their journals. Have them come up with a plan for collecting seeds, a list of materials they will need for planting, how they will germinate their seeds, etc. Throughout the process, they will record their observations and field notes in their journal, as well.

Modifications for Online Learning

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.

To teach students about biodiversity, have students engage in a virtual field trip! Nature.org has a ton of virtual field trip educational videos, all about 40 minutes long. The virtual field trips Borneo: The Symphony of the Rainforest, View from a Canoe, and China’s Great Forests are all great for learning about biodiversity in forests. Students can watch from the comfort of their own home, or even in the classroom.

Extension Actvities

Explore this National Geographic article with a corresponding slide show of photos to learn about redwood trees. Bonus: the text can be changed to reflect your students’ current reading level.

Have students pick one of the species of trees they encountered on their exploration of the ecosystem. They must research how it is adapted for survival within its ecosystem.

Get students set up to use the mind map website called Mindomo. Have students create a web representing the food cycle in the ecosystem the examined earlier. They will represent how each organism relies on one other for survival.

After the minds on activity, have students imagine that they are aliens from outer space coming to Earth for the first time seeing all of these new, unique species. Have students write a journal entry or a story about the organisms that they found, using descriptive factors rather than actual names of species.