Seeds come in all different shapes and sizes. Think of a strawberry which is covered with lots of little tiny seeds. Now think of an avocado which has one big seed in the middle. Despite the difference in size each of these seeds has the same basic parts.
cotyledon: the seed leaf; the first leaf or leaves that appear after germination.
epicotyl: part of a seed that will become the shoot of the plant including stems and leaves
hypocotyl: part of the seed that connects the seed leaf to the bat root
radicle: the first root of a plant; this is the first thing that appear when a seed germinates
seed coat: protects the seed
Here is a fun activity that you can do with kids to explore seeds.
Seed Dissection
Next week we will continue our Get Growing! series with more fun activities to get kids excited about growing things!
First row: Poppy, Red pepper, Strawberry, Apple, Blackberry, Rice, Carum sp.
Second row: Mustard, Eggplant, Physalis sp., Grape, Raspberry, Red rice, Patchouli
Third row: Fig, Lycium barbarum, Beet, Blueberry, Golden Kiwifruit, Rose, Basil
Fourth row: Pink pepper, Tomato, Radish, Carrot, Matthiola sp., Dill, Coriander
Fifth row: Black pepper, White cabbage, Napa cabbage, Sea buckthorn, Parsley, Dandelion, Shepard’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)
Sixth row: Cauliflower, Radish, Kiwifruit, Grenadilla, Passion fruit, Lemon balm, Marigold