Structures of Life
Investigation 1: Origin of Seeds
Part 2
The Sprouting Seed
Students use sprouting devices to find out what effect water has on seeds. Seeds are watered daily and a record of observations is kept.
3. Lesson set up and Management
1.1.L.1 Distinguish living organisms from nonliving objects, and use characteristics to sort common organisms into plant groups.
1.2 Systems -Identify the parts of a system, how the parts go together, and how they depend on each other.
Seeds undergo changes in the presence of water.
A seed is an organism, a living thing.
3. Lesson set up and Management
Materials:
1. Be sure to practice using the green sprouter before adding any seeds. If the water is not draining from tray to tray, you need to lift the red cap and replace it to remove any air bubbles.
2. You can also add a variety of seeds to be sprouted to see how they grow. Compare and contrast the growing seeds. You are not limited to the beans stated in the kit.
Water sprouters everyday. Fill water to the top of the red cap. It is okay to let the plants sit over the weekend. |
If water is not draining, then lift the red cap and replace it down lightly. The cap may be on too tightly. If it is still does not drain, take cap off and check the drain hole; it may be clogged. |
3. Each day for 7 days, after this lesson be prepared to allow time for students to record their observations.
4. Water the seeds with a fresh bleach-water solution every day. They can live over a weekend without being watered; it will not hurt the investigation.
5. Make transparencies of student sheets No. 4 and 5. Students will use these as a guideline for writing in their journals.
6. Student sheet No. 3 needs to be run off and cut apart. Each group will need 1 part. Laminate these before using and then store them for each year.
7. Water and drain mini-sprouters each day. Be sure there are no puddles of water left in the containers. These will be fine without water over a weekend.
Place coffee filter into container and seeds into the filter. Add water and fold coffee filter down so the whole filter gets wet. |
Drain all excess water from the container either into a separate container or into the sink. Excess water can cause molding. |
Student Management:
1. Keep all materials at the station at which the students are working. Let the students go to each workstation and explore.
2. Set rules and guidelines for observing the plants during non-science times.
3. Keep Moving! If you are constantly moving, it will keep everyone on task.
1. You can lengthen or shorten the time on any lesson.
2. Use pages 2 & 3 to help guide further inquiry at the end of every section.
3. Create a schedule to observe plants in both sprouters. Either set a time for small groups or take 10-15 minutes a day as a whole class to observe for the next 7 days.
4. Don't wait to start this lesson, as your plants will not have time to grow before you have to send the kit back.
5. Give students time to discuss their observations with each other.
6. Give journal reflection time.
7. Keep word bank and content inquiry chart up so students can see and have more time to copy later, if needed. It's nice if you can keep them up all the time and just add to them as you go.
Writing Support:
1. Have students reflect on the day's lesson in their journal.
2. Start and finish each lesson with a KWLQ chart. ("What do I know?" "What do I want to know?" "What have I learned?" and "Are there any more questions to investigate?")
3. Write about how you would feel being a seed in a sprouter with many other seeds, and explain why you would feel that way.
Reading Support:
1. Read Science Stories The Most Important Seed as read aloud or as partner reading.
2. Check the Resources section of the teacher's guide for more reading suggestions, or the literature link on this site.