The humble seed, how small and inconspicuous you are. Yet there is the potential of a whole plant waiting for the right conditions. We see seeds daily in our gardens and produce and don’t think twice. Sometimes we eat the seeds, save them, and most of the time discard them altogether. However, the humble seed is a miraculous marvel of bioengineering and adaptation, which allow plants to reproduce. The fact that a plant “knows” to grow to the sunlight when the seed is underground is fantastic! The fact that seeds can be dormant for years but produce a plant under the right conditions is wild!

Another fascinating thing about seeds is all the different ways they are released into the environment. Some seeds travel by water because they have hearty shells to keep them intact while they drift down streams or in the ocean. Other seeds literally explode out of a pod! Sometimes we can hear their loud cracking sounds in the forest. Other seeds are tough enough to withstand the stomach acids of an animal. The reward for going through an animal’s digestive system is being excreted with excellent fertilizer. Other seeds are barbed and snagged onto fur or feathers (or pant legs) and can travel for miles before falling off. Some seeds fly (float, really) or travel in aerodynamic pods, which send them to faraway places. Some seeds are so tasty to certain animals that they eat some and store the rest for the winter. If the seeds are buried underground, and the animal forgets about them, it’s in the perfect spot to grow! The animal was a gardener or farmer and literally planted like a human would. All these methods are used to spread plants far and wide across the world.

Materials: 

·      Lots of tennis balls

·      Lots of cones

·      Pennies or something to show the destructive forces players

·      Pool noodles (the same color as the jerseys, preferably)

·      Several yoga balls

·      Bucket

Minimum Number of Students Needed: This game could be played with as few as five students, but it works much better with an entire class.

Age: Lower and Upper Elementary