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Why do seeds have so many different shapes?

Why do seeds have so many different shapes?

Lesson narration:
Scroll for prep
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DISCUSS:
How are these seeds different from each other?
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DISCUSS: (1 of 2)
What’s similar about these structures?
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DISCUSS: (2 of 2)
Do these shapes remind you of any objects you use in your daily life?
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DISCUSS:
Why might spiky, fuzzy seeds stick to some animals and not others?
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DISCUSS:
Which material would you choose as a model for an animal’s fur? Why?
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Step
01/18
Get your supplies.
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02/18
Hold your cup sideways over your plate.
Squeeze glue on top of your sideways cup.
Then put 6 cotton balls on top (2 rows of 3).
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03/18
Gently press your cotton balls together so that they are touching.
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04/18
Draw a face on the bottom of your cup.
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05/18
Practice moving like a fluffadoo! Hold your fluffadoo with both hands
in front of you and with your elbows bent by your sides. Hop in place
while keeping your upper body still.
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06/18
You’ll work with a partner.
Choose who will be HOPPER and who will be COUNTER first.
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07/18
Get more supplies.
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08/18
Put Seed A on your fluffadoo. HOPPER: Hop in place until your seed
falls off your fluffadoo. COUNTER: Count the number of times your
partner hops.
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09/18
COUNTER: Tell your partner the number of hops it took for Seed A
to fall off their fluffadoo. HOPPER: Circle that number in the “Test 1”
row of your worksheet.
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10/18
Partners switch jobs. Then do test 1 for Seed A again.
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11/18
Do the rest of your Seed A tests. Circle the number of hops your
partner counted on your worksheet. Switch jobs after each test.
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12/18
Discuss:
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13/18
Here’s what we noticed.
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14/18
Get the rest of your supplies.
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15/18
Do test 1 for Seed B. HOPPER: Hop in place until your seed falls off
your fluffadoo. COUNTER: Count the number of times your partner
hops. HOPPER: Record your results.
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16/18
Do the rest of your Seed B tests.
Switch jobs between HOPPER and COUNTER after each test.
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Discuss:
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Discuss:
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CHALLENGE:
What are some other ways that your fluffadoo could help Seed B move?
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DISCUSS:
What problems might there be if all of these seeds tried to grow in one place?
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seed


1 of 7

a part of a plant that can grow into a baby plant
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structure


2 of 7

the specific form and shape of something
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disperse


3 of 7

to move and spread out
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animal dispersal


4 of 7

when an animal moves a seed from one place to another
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survive


5 of 7

to stay alive
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pattern


6 of 7

something that happens again and again and again in a way that can be predicted
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model


7 of 7

a pretend version of something that scientists use when the real thing is too big, small, or complicated to work with
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Lesson narration:

Activity Prep

Print Prep

In this lesson, students explore how the structures of seeds enable them to disperse, with a focus on seeds that utilize animal structures to aid in their dispersal. In the activity, Seed Travelers, students develop a model of a furry animal (“fluffadoo”) and then use it to test how far seed models with different structures can travel.

Preview activity

Exploration

15 mins

Wrap-Up

15 mins

Extend this lesson