Chapter 2 of 8

All 8 chapters
  1. 1Plant parts and their jobs, readunderstood
  2. 2From seed to seedling, readunderstood
  3. 3A fair test with plants, readunderstood
  4. 4Light, water and plant health, readunderstood
  5. 5Leaves make food, readunderstood
  6. 6Flowers and pollination, readunderstood
  7. 7How seeds travel, readunderstood
  8. 8The life cycle of a plant, readunderstood

S2.1.2 Chapter 2

From seed to seedling

What is inside a seed, and how does it start to grow?

Your guess

Pick one before you read on. It is fine to be wrong.

Your guess

  • You picked A. Read on. At the end, the chapter comes back to your guess.

  • You picked B. Read on. At the end, the chapter comes back to your guess.

  • You picked C. Read on. At the end, the chapter comes back to your guess.

By the end you can

  • Name the parts of a seed: coat, food store and tiny plant
  • Test whether seeds need water to start growing, using two cups

A dry bean looks dead. It is alive. Inside is a tiny plant.

The seed coat is the skin on the outside. It protects the seed.

Inside are two halves. They are the food store. They feed the tiny plant until its leaves can make food.

Between the halves lies the tiny plant. It has a tiny root and a tiny shoot. The shoot is the part that grows up.

You can see this. Soak a dry bean in water overnight. Peel off the coat. Gently split the bean in two. Look for the tiny plant.

Draw it first

Draw the inside of a bean

  1. A bean seed cut open. The outline is the seed coat. A line down the middle shows two halves, the food store. A tiny root and a tiny shoot lie in the left half, the tiny plant. Labels: seed coat, food store, tiny plant.seed coat

    1 Draw a big bean shape. Write seed coat. This is the outside.

  2. A bean seed cut open. The outline is the seed coat. A line down the middle shows two halves, the food store. A tiny root and a tiny shoot lie in the left half, the tiny plant. Labels: seed coat, food store, tiny plant.seed coatfood store

    2 Draw a line down the middle. Write food store. These are the two halves.

  3. A bean seed cut open. The outline is the seed coat. A line down the middle shows two halves, the food store. A tiny root and a tiny shoot lie in the left half, the tiny plant. Labels: seed coat, food store, tiny plant.seed coatfood storetiny plant

    3 Draw a tiny root and shoot in one half. Write tiny plant.

A seed can wait a long time. It starts to grow when it gets water, air and warmth. Most seeds do not need light or soil to start.

A cup of three beans on wet paper. Three arrows point at the beans: one from the left, one from above and one from the right. Labels: water, air, warmth.waterairwarmth
A seed needs water, air and warmth to start.

Many seeds start in the dark, under the ground. A bean can start in a dark box too.

Two dark boxes drawn with hatched walls, roof and floor and a white inside, under the words dark box. The left box is labelled start and holds a cup of three beans on wet paper, with no roots. An arrow leads to the right box, labelled 5 days later, where roots hang down from the beans. Labels: dark box, start, 5 days later.dark boxstart5 days later
Wet beans grow roots inside a dark box.

First the seed takes in water. It swells, and the coat splits. The root comes out first. Then the shoot grows up. A young plant like this is a seedling.

See it three ways

As a picture

Three stages in soil, from left to right. A seed under the soil, labelled seed. A sprouting seed with a small root and two tiny leaves, labelled sprouting. A young plant with leaves above the soil, labelled seedling.seedsproutingseedling

In words

The seed takes in water. The root comes out first and goes down. The shoot grows up and the leaves open. Now it is a seedling.

A sprouting seed in soil. A root grows down and a shoot grows up with two tiny leaves. Each name is joined to its part by a line. Labels: tiny leaf, shoot, root.tiny leafshootroot
The root goes down. The shoot goes up.

Do seeds need water to start? Test it. Use two cups. Only one thing will be different: the water.

Try it

Do seeds need water to start?

You need: two cups, paper or a cloth, enough to fill the bottom of each cup, a few dry beans, the same kind, water, a warm place.

Be safe: Do not eat the beans. If white fuzz grows on the paper, throw it away. Then wash your hands.

  1. Put paper or cloth in the bottom of each cup.
  2. Put the same number of beans on the paper in each cup.
  3. Wet the paper in one cup. Keep it wet every day.
  4. Leave the other cup dry. Stand both cups in the same place.
  5. Look every day for about five days. Where do the beans change?

What you will see: Only the wet beans start to grow. They swell, the coat splits, and a root comes out first. The dry beans stay as they were. Seeds need water to start. These beans grew with no soil. It may take more days if the place is cool.

If you cannot try it, this is what happens.
Two cups with three beans each, after five days. The left cup has wet paper and roots coming out of the beans, labelled wet: roots grow. The right cup has dry paper and no roots, labelled dry: no roots.wet: roots growdry: no roots

A wrong idea many people have

A seed needs soil to start growing.

Why it feels right: People plant seeds in soil. We always see seedlings come up from the ground.

The test that breaks it: Put wet paper in a cup. Lay a few beans on it. Add no soil. Keep the paper wet. After some days, roots come out of the beans. Then the shoots grow.

What is true: A seed needs water, air and warmth to start. The food store feeds the seedling at first. Soil is not needed to start.

Key words

seed coat
the skin on the outside of a seed. It protects the seed.
food store
the part of a seed that feeds the tiny plant.
shoot
the part of a plant that grows up from the seed.
seedling
a young plant that has just started to grow.

Back to your guess

The answer is B: A tiny plant and its food.

A seed holds a tiny plant and food for it. A coat covers them both.

Check yourself

Try each one before you look. A wrong answer tells you where to go next.

  1. Which part of a bean seed protects the tiny plant?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Not this one. The food store feeds the tiny plant. The coat protects it. Try another.

    2. Not this one. The shoot is part of the tiny plant. The coat is the skin outside. Try another.

    3. Not this one. The soil is outside the seed. The seed coat is the seed's own skin. It protects the tiny plant. Try another.

    4. Yes, that is right. The seed coat is the skin on the outside. It covers and protects what is inside.

    See the answer

    The seed coat

    The seed coat is the skin on the outside. It covers and protects what is inside.

    • If you chose A: The food store feeds the tiny plant. The coat protects it.
    • If you chose B: The shoot is part of the tiny plant. The coat is the skin outside.
    • If you chose C: The soil is outside the seed. The seed coat is the seed's own skin. It protects the tiny plant.

  2. What is the food store for?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Yes, that is right. The two halves hold food. The tiny plant uses it until its own leaves can make food.

    2. Not this one. The seed coat protects the seed. The food store feeds the tiny plant. Try another.

    3. Not this one. The flower comes much later, on the grown plant. The food store feeds the tiny plant. Try another.

    See the answer

    It feeds the tiny plant until its leaves can make food.

    The two halves hold food. The tiny plant uses it until its own leaves can make food.

    • If you chose B: The seed coat protects the seed. The food store feeds the tiny plant.
    • If you chose C: The flower comes much later, on the grown plant. The food store feeds the tiny plant.

  3. Mei keeps one cup of beans wet and one cup dry. Only the wet beans grow. What does this show?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Not this one. No soil was used. The wet beans grew on paper. Try another.

    2. Not this one. Both cups stood in the same place. Only the water was different. Try another.

    3. Yes, that is right. The cups were the same except for water. Only the wet beans grew, so water made the difference.

    See the answer

    Seeds need water to start growing.

    The cups were the same except for water. Only the wet beans grew, so water made the difference.

    • If you chose A: No soil was used. The wet beans grew on paper.
    • If you chose B: Both cups stood in the same place. Only the water was different.

  4. What comes out of a growing bean first?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Not this one. The flower comes much later, on the grown plant. Try another.

    2. Yes, that is right. The root comes out first and goes down. Then the shoot grows up.

    3. Not this one. The root comes out first. The shoot and leaves come after it. Try another.

    See the answer

    The root

    The root comes out first and goes down. Then the shoot grows up.

    • If you chose A: The flower comes much later, on the grown plant.
    • If you chose C: The root comes out first. The shoot and leaves come after it.

  5. From an earlier chapter

    Which part of a plant takes in water from the soil?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Yes, that is right. The root grows in the soil. It takes in water and minerals.

    2. Not this one. The stem carries the water up. The root takes it in. Go to S2.1.1. Try another.

    3. Not this one. The leaf makes food. The root takes in water. Go to S2.1.1. Try another.

    See the answer

    The root

    The root grows in the soil. It takes in water and minerals.

    • If you chose B: The stem carries the water up. The root takes it in. Go to S2.1.1.
    • If you chose C: The leaf makes food. The root takes in water. Go to S2.1.1.

  6. Draw a bean seed cut open. Label the seed coat, the food store and the tiny plant.

    See the answer

    A bean outline labelled seed coat. A line down the middle, labelled food store. A tiny root and shoot, labelled tiny plant.

    The coat protects. The food store feeds. The tiny plant is the part that will grow.

  7. Look at the picture. Which letter shows the tiny plant?

    A bean seed cut open. Its outline, its two halves and the tiny root and shoot are each marked by a letter. Labels: A, B, C.ABC
    Tap your answer.

    1. Not this one. A is the seed coat. The coat is the skin that protects the seed. Try another.

    2. Not this one. B is the food store. It feeds the tiny plant. Try another.

    3. Yes, that is right. C marks the tiny root and the tiny shoot. Together they are the tiny plant, the part that grows.

    See the answer

    C

    C marks the tiny root and the tiny shoot. Together they are the tiny plant, the part that grows.

    • If you chose A: A is the seed coat. The coat is the skin that protects the seed.
    • If you chose B: B is the food store. It feeds the tiny plant.

  8. Ana lays wet beans on wet paper in a dark box. After five days roots come out. What does this show?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Yes, that is right. The beans had water and warmth but no light. They still grew roots. Many seeds start in dark soil.

    2. Not this one. The box was dark and the roots still came out. Leaves need light later, to make food. Try another.

    3. Not this one. Ana used wet paper and no soil. The roots still came out. Try another.

    See the answer

    Beans can start to grow in the dark.

    The beans had water and warmth but no light. They still grew roots. Many seeds start in dark soil.

    • If you chose B: The box was dark and the roots still came out. Leaves need light later, to make food.
    • If you chose C: Ana used wet paper and no soil. The roots still came out.

Keep it

Copy this into your exercise book.

Seed parts: a seed coat, a food store and a tiny plant. With water, air and warmth it starts to grow. The root comes out first, then the shoot. Seeds need no soil to start.

Draw: A bean cut open. Label the seed coat, food store and tiny plant.

Reading with a child? A short page for the adult: what this chapter teaches and three questions to ask.

No internet tomorrow? Save the whole book as one file (922 KB). It opens on any phone.