Mad Science Monday: Seed Science is Swell!

You don't have to be a scientist to find seeds absolutely amazing. But you can do a lot of science with them! It's simply incredible to think that a tiny little seed that you can barely see between your fingers can grow a set of roots, shoots, leaves, a stem, a flower, a fruit or even become a tree. Those of us who garden are reminded just how powerful a seed can be when we watch in equal amounts of astonishment as the radishes we carefully tended and nurtured fail to produce a bulb while a billion dandelions sprout up through a crack in the sidewalk. And in today's post, you don't even need a plot of land at all! In fact--you can stay inside if you'd like to. (Did I just say that?) Yup, today we're gardening without the garden so we can explore some swell seed science experiments.

Plant Your Own Sprout House

There are several versions of this experiment on Pinterest and other websites and it's a great one to do in a classroom or at home. I've done it for years with my students and now for the last few years at home and even with my nature based playgroup. I especially love that planting your own sprout house offers a way to grow something for children who may not have access to an outdoor space in their homes or schools. 

Waiting in anticipation for our playgroup to arrive and plant Sprout Houses with us!

We learn early on that plants need three things to grow: sun, water and soil. But what if you take away the soil? Can you grow a seed inside a ziploc bag? In this simple activity, you will see that even in the absence of soil, you can observe a seed germinate right from your very own window!

You will need:

• a ziplock bag, quart or sandwich size
• a bean seed*
• a paper towel 
• water
• tape
• construction paper, scissors and markers (optional, if you'd like to add a proper house)

*For years I did this with a bean or pea seed from my garden stash. Last year, I had a bag of dried bean soup mix in the pantry and I decided to see what would happen. We put one of each type of bean, pea and lentil in a Sprout House and they ALL sprouted! If you're doing this with a larger group, this is also a great way to lower your materials budget.

Instructions:

If you'd like to add a proper house to your Sprout House, you can cut out a house shape from construction paper in the color of your choice and cut a square out of the center for a window into your sprout bag. Decorate your Sprout House as you like with markers (or crayons, stickers, etc). 

Fold your paper towel in half or quarters (depending on size) to fit it inside your ziplock bag. Moisten the towel with a spray bottle of water. If you don't happen to have a spray bottle, you can also just wet your towel prior to putting it in the bag. You want it wet to saturation but not to the point of creating a pool in your bag and drowning your seed. Next add your seed to the bag on one side of the paper towel. I like to keep it at one seed per bag but you can add a few or even different kinds. You can also make multiple separate bags if you want to compare germination rates between types of beans, peas and/or seeds of other kinds. Seal the bag and tape it to your paper house and then to a sunny window.

Now it's time to wait and watch, watch and wait. Over the days to come, you'll see your seed swell and then burst as it sprouts its own set of roots and shoots!

If you notice your bag seems particularly dry, you may want to replenish water as needed.

For some scientific extensions, try the following:

• plant more than one type of bean and compare rates of germination
• change another variable:
• LIGHT: set one sprout house in a sunny window and others in different locations around the house. Try one on a wall, away from the window or one inside a dark closet. Observe how light affects germination...
• MOISTURE: what if you take away water? Can a seed germinate in a sunny window inside of a bag with no water?
• does the size of the seed affect the rate of germination or the size of the sprout? Get out your rulers and measure up! 

One of my playgroup parents asked if the seeds can be transplanted after they sprout and we've not yet tried this, but it's another great expansion idea. This year we are adding in the variable of light to see how that plays a role in germination...

I also especially love Sprout Houses for the clear view they offer of the very beginning stages of a seed. Here are some other ways to observe seeds in action...

Root Viewers allow you to see a worm's eye view of the earliest stages of action in seed growth. We have the Toysmith Root Viewer (available on Amazon) at home and there are several similar kits to this. Check out the ideas on Growing With Science to make your own root viewers at home using recycled materials. At the beginning of summer vacation, the boys and I opened our root viewer kit and planted three types of seeds: radish, onion and carrot. We observed the rates of germination over the days and weeks to come and it was amazing to see the roots in action! They enjoyed our Great Race to Root and documenting their hypotheses and results in their Sprout Scouts journals. The radish seeds definitely won the race, coming in first place with the sprouts popping right up through the top of their test tube. Carrots came in second and last (but not least) our slow and steady onion seeds.

Can You Grow a New Plant from a Cutting? Want to make friends with gardeners or make gardeners out of your friends? Share your plants! Growing herbs is a great way to bring your garden to the table. Some herbs can be a bit challenging to grow from seed and starter plants can be a bit pricey. However, investing in some of your favorites is a great way to bring the smells, textures, flavors and colors of a kitchen garden right into your, well, kitchen! And one of the greatest things about growing herbs is how easy many of them are to propagate. Mint and lemon balm are two particularly easy-to-propagate herbs. Beyond that, they have natural insect repelling qualities (although while I notice that no mosquitoes are eating my lemon balm, plenty have been nibbling on my ankles in the garden). They also have many culinary and medicinal uses in the home. I had a few friends inquire about these herbs and I had a couple of very healthy plants growing beyond the boundaries of their 5 gallon grow pots out back. I took a couple of clippings of each and set them in some juice glasses of water...

 And while I wasn't planning on a science experiment, my inner Mrs. Frizzle could not resist the opportunity to show my junior scientists how cool it is to see the roots emerge from the clipped stem down into the water!

We also did this with a sprig of basil and transplanted it into a pot when the roots had emerged. It's doing great now in my kitchen window planter, offering this lazy cook a quick stash without heading the dozen steps into my backyard pizza garden. Once your clippings have taken root, you can transplant them into a pot of soil or directly into your garden. Or, you can gift them to a friend!

We've had a lot of fun at home and in playgroup exploring seed science. Want to do more? READ all about it! I always travel to our playgroup meetups with some theme related literature and here are some of our favorite books about seeds this season:

My favorite Non-fiction pick is A Bean's Life Cycle by Mary R. Dunn, part of the Pebble Plus Explore Life Cycles series. The photographs are amazing and the author uses simple and scientifically accurate text to document the growth process of a bean.

For early and pre-readers, we are especially loving...

• Oh Say Can You Seed? All About Flowering Plants by Bonnie Worth and illustrated by Aristides Ruiz from The Cat in the Hat's Learning Library. It's a great combination of factual learning with illustrations and rhymes in the style of Dr. Seuss.
• The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle is a classic and one that we love to read repeatedly each and every year!
• Curious George Plants a Seed by: Erica Zappy is a Scholastic Level 1 reader put out by Scholastic that combines a beloved children's character with a curiously humorous story about discovering how seeds grow (and how other things do not)...

For the younger crowd, I like to keep some theme related board books on hand. National Geographic Kids LOOK&LEARN series is great and these come in a variety of formats including board book and paperback. In My Garden contains stunning photography and some great information for growing gardeners about growing gardens!

Sewing Seeds of Science...

Well, it's been super swell talking seeds with my fellow scientists today. We'll see you soon and until then...

Happy Playing!