Seeds

As the seasons change and the need for jackets and layers is here, we continue to remember the gift of seeds in our world. The Kindergarten has been studying seeds to enhance their descriptive language and further develop their ability to recognize distinctive attributes of various seeds. They compare and contrast seeds as a teacher asks specific questions, “What do you notice about this seed?” “How does it feel?” “Which seed is bigger?” It is exciting to find out that we eat seeds and they don’t grow inside of us!

After cutting open the fruit we bought at Aspen last week, the children have been carefully observing the seeds inside. They noticed that some fruits have many little seeds and other fruits have one big seed called a pit.

Before we begin a new study, we take a moment to think about what we already know about the subject, and what we wonder about it. Here are some thoughts the children shared about what they already know:

You can find seeds in plants. -Wini

Some seeds are hard, some are squishy. -Charlie S.

They can be pointy or round. -Zeke

Some seeds can grow big. -Arturo

They need water to grow. -Amelia

They need sunlight to grow. -Joan

They come in different shapes. -Rebekah

The seeds need water or rain. -Sebastian

Seeds have plant’s food inside. -Ezra

An apple has seeds. -Joseph

The seeds can be squishy or hard. -William

Seeds are different sizes. -Zeke

Nuts are seeds. -Arturo

Flowers come from seeds. -Claire

And here are some wonderings we have about seeds:

If you eat seeds, do they come out of your body?- Charlie S.

How do they grow? -Jack

What happens if you break a seed? -Ezra

How can it grow and where can we learn about seeds? -Claire

Can it still grow if someone steps on it? -Joseph

Can you make mustard with mustard seeds? -Rodrigo

Can you eat a seed before you plant it? -Karina

Can plants grow on their own without anyone taking care of them? -Arturo

Can seeds grow without water? -Sebastian

Can you tell what food grows by what the seed looks like? -Rebekah

Why do some foods have seeds and some not have seeds? -Stella

What is the biggest seed? -Ms. O’Dowd

Children have also been observing and painting seeds this week in paint. Each child is deciding which fruit to paint, a papaya, a dragon fruit, or an apple. Children have also decided whether to paint the outside or the inside of the fruit. It takes careful observation!

Students have searched for similarities and differences of two seeds. First they carefully observed and drew the seeds, then they found at least one thing that was the same about the seeds and one thing that was different! Sometimes it can be very tricky to find a similarity but it helps us to think about all the ways we can describe a seed.

Students have also participated in an activity called “What’s My Rule”  in which they find something that is the same about a group of seeds in relation to size, shape, color, and texture. For instance, “all of the seeds are smooth and small.”

Seeds have appeared everywhere: outside, inside, in our food and many more places! Our seed collection continues to grow, and we look forward to more seed sharing as we finish up our study.