A plant can’t walk, so how do its seeds reach new ground? Some float on the wind, some sail across water, some are carried by animals and some are flung from bursting pods. On Dandelion Downs, Year 2 scientists explore each journey.
What your child will learn
- Know that new plants grow from seeds
- Describe four ways seeds travel: wind, water, animals and explosion
- Explain why seeds need to move away from the parent plant
- Know what a seed needs to start growing
Why travel at all?
If every seed dropped straight down, the seedlings would crowd together and fight for light, water and space. Travelling gives each one a better chance. A seed’s shape is a clue to how it moves: fluffy for wind, hooked for fur, waterproof for water.
Example questions
Here are a few questions like the ones in the first quest. Can you solve them?
1. What is inside a seed?
- Only water
- Nothing at all
- A small stone
- A tiny new plant and a store of food
Show answer
Answer: A tiny new plant and a store of food. The food store feeds the baby plant until it can make its own.
2. How do dandelion seeds travel?
- They float on the wind
- They are too heavy to move
- They swim
- They walk
Show answer
Answer: They float on the wind. Each seed has a fluffy parachute that catches the wind.
3. Which seed has “wings” that spin as it falls?
- A coconut
- A bean
- A maple seed
- An apple pip
Show answer
Answer: A maple seed. The wing makes it spin like a helicopter and drift away.
Tips for grown-ups
- Blow a dandelion clock and watch how far the seeds drift.
- Drop a maple or sycamore seed from a height and watch it spin.
- Check your socks after a walk through long grass — are any seeds hitching a ride?