What does a seed need to germinate?

In High 5 we wanted to find out what a seed needs to germinate so tried some different conditions.

Control

• We wet the paper towel and put it around the inside of the jar (like a cylinder).

• We put the beans in the jar (one on each side) between the damp paper towel and the glass jar – we want the sun to touch the beans.

Dry

• We put the paper towel around the inside of the jar (like a cylinder).
• We put the beans in the jar (one on each side) between the paper towel and the glass jar – we want the sun to touch the beans.

Dark

• We wet the paper towel and put it around the inside of the jar (like a cylinder).
• We put the beans in the jar (one on each side) between the damp paper towel and the glass jar – we want the sun to touch the beans.
• We wrapped a cover of black paper around the jar so the sun cannot touch the seed.

Soil

• We collected soil from the school vege garden and put about 3 cm in our jar.
• We wet the paper towel and put it around the inside of the jar (like a cylinder).
• We put the beans in the soil in the jar. We covered the beans (they are planted).

Cold

• We wet the paper towel and put it around the inside of the jar (like a cylinder).
• We put the beans in the jar (one on each side) between the damp paper towel and the glass jar – we want the sun to touch the beans.
• We put the jar in the fridge (on the top shelf at the back)

Observations: WALT: observe what happens

We looked closely and recorded our observations in very careful diagrams.

Conclusions: (what I think) WALT: share our ideas

• The seed in the fridge germinated very slowly. The dry seed did nothing. The control (damp and light) geminated and has green leaves. The seed in the dark germinated and the leaves are yellow. We don’t think this will grow very big. The seed in the soil geminated first and it is a healthy green plant. We think this will grow the biggest.
• A seed needs water to germinate.

A plant needs water, sun (feeds the food factory in the leaves) and soil to keep growing big and strong.