Daily STREAM Activity: Seed Exploration

Take a close up look at different plant seeds!

Activity best for children age 2 and up

Did you eat any food today that had a seed in it? Do you ever wonder why there are seeds in that food? A seed is the way a new plant will be made and then it will make more fruit and vegetables. The seeds from the apple you ate at lunch can be planted in the ground where it will grow into a new apple tree. Some seeds can be very small, like apple seeds, and some seeds, like coconuts, are as big as bowling balls! Some seeds you can eat, like the seeds in a cucumber and sunflower seeds, but some seeds you can’t eat, like the seed from an avocado or mango. Next time you go to the grocery store, look at the different fruits and vegetables and think about what kind of seeds would be inside. Today, we are going to examine different seeds at home. Find a few different fruits and vegetables that you have in your house and with a grown up’s help, cut them open and check out the seeds inside them.

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Materials you’ll need:

A few fruits and vegetables that you have in your house 

Paper and pencil

Knife to cut the fruit and vegetables

Guiding Questions:

Which one do you think will have the biggest seed? The smallest seed? The most seeds?

What will the seed look like?

How many seeds will there be?

Are these seeds I can eat like the seeds in a tomato?

Are the seeds big or small?

Are the seeds rough or small?

Is it easy to take them out?

Directions

STEP 1
Wash the fruits and vegetables. Look at them from the outside and guess what kind of seed or seeds they have inside them. Which one do you think will have the biggest seed? Which one do you think will have the most seeds?

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STEP 2
Have a grown up cut the food in half to open it up. Look at the seed or seeds inside. Are they big? Small?

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STEP 3
Take the seeds or seed out of the fruit or vegetable. Is it hard to take them out? How do the seeds feel? Rough? Smooth?

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STEP 4
On a piece of paper write down which seed was the biggest and the smallest. Which food had the most seeds? The least amount of seeds?

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Grown ups, are you looking for more ways to extend your child’s learning? Check out these extension activities to build upon today’s STREAM activity!

Math Extension
Count the seeds and make a graph of how many seeds each fruit or vegetable has.

Reading Connection 

A Seed is Sleepy by Diana Hutts Aston

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Science Connection
Take some of the seeds and put them on a plate. Let them dry out in the sun for a few days. Then place the seeds on a wet paper towel. Every day come and check on the seeds, making sure that the paper towel stays wet. After a few days the seeds should start to germinate – that means grow roots. Then you can plant your seeds in some soil!

Real World Connections
Next time you go to the grocery store look at the fruits and vegetables that are on display and think about the different seeds that are inside. Which ones might have the BIGGEST seeds? Which ones might have the SMALLEST seeds?