Seeds-Seed Sort

Anna Summers                   Henry Clay Elementary School
                               13231 S. Burley
                               Chicago IL 60633
                               312-535-5600

Objective:

The second grade students will count and sort seeds and find the likenesses and 
differences of many seeds.

Materials needed:

Small Dixie cups-one per group of 3-4 students: lima beans, kidney beans, pop 
corn, sunflower seeds, garbanzo beans, black-eyed peas, etc., magnifying lens, 
balance scale.

Strategy:

1.Students should be given background information about seeds:

     Seeds are all different sizes and shapes and they come surrounded by all 
different kinds of fruit.  But all seeds are alike in two ways.  Every seed 
contains a little plant called an embryo.  All seeds contain food that helps the 
little plant grow. 
 
     All seeds are remarkable in the way in which they spread themselves in 
order to grow new plants.  Some seeds simply fall to the ground, others float on 
water, some are fired like buckshot over a distance, and others attach to an 
animal's fur. 

     All seeds serve the same purpose, to germinate and grow a new plant in 
order to perpetuate the plant species. 

2. Provide an assortment of seeds.  Mix the seeds together so the students can 
   be given a representative sample.

3. Place the students in groups of 3-4 and give each group a small cupful of 
   seeds.
 
4. Have the students estimate how many seeds are in the cup.

5. Give each group a copy of the worksheet "Seed Sort".

6. The students will dump the cup of seeds into the circle in the middle of the 
   paper and sort the seeds into smaller sets of like kinds and put them in the
   smaller circles.

7. A record should be made of the name and number of seeds in each circle.

8. Then have the students add the smaller sets to get the total number of
   seeds in the cup.

9. Have students use a magnifying lens to look closely at the seeds.  What color
   are they?  Are there any that have two colors?  The students can record their
   answers on the worksheet "Observing Seeds".
 
10. Ask the students: What are the shapes of the seeds?  Have them record by 
    drawing the shapes of the seeds in the shapes column.

11. Have the students guess how many seeds it will take to cover the line.
    Lay the seeds on the line, count them and record.

12. The students will use the worksheet "Comparing Seeds" to weigh the seeds. 
    They should estimate how many seeds it will take to balance one gram and 
    then weigh the seeds and record the results.  At the bottom of the page 
    record by coloring the graph. 

Performance Assessment:

The performance assessment will be the completion of the worksheets "Seed Sort", 
"Observing Seeds", and "Comparing Seeds".  As a result of completing required 
tasks the student will obtain practice in measuring, counting, estimating, and 
graphing.  The scientific processes practiced in this activity are sorting, 
classifying, observing, recording, and comparing.  Evaluation will be based on 
completion of each task. 

Multi-Cultural Aspect:

Dr. George Washington Carver was a great scientist who found many ways to use 
plants.  He made more than 100 different things from corn.  As an extension to 
this exercise you may bring in different dishes prepared in the manner of 
different ethnic groups.  An example might be a preparation of a bean burito 
which is a food prepared by the Hispanic culture. 

Reference:

Project Aims K-3, Primarily Plants, 1990.