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Grow It 3-5 / Week 02 / Friday
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Week 02 · Seeds and Germination

Friday

Tough coats and soaking
// How a sleeping seed wakes up
⏱ about 15 min

Friday: Tough Coats and Soaking

Rocket compares two jars. One holds soaked beans. One holds dry beans.

"The soaked ones are huge!" he says. "Did I make giant beans?"

Raven squeezes one gently. "What do you notice? It is soft and wrinkly."

Nova hovers near the jars. "Water went somewhere," she hints. "Where could it go?"

Rocket smiles. "Into the seed!"

Thin coats and thick coats

Some seed coats are thin and soft, like a bean coat.

Other seed coats are thick and hard.

A thick coat can help a seed survive tough conditions.

But a very hard coat can block water and oxygen.

Soaking or scratching hard seeds can help water get inside.

StatementTrue or false?
A bean has a thin, soft seed coat.?
A very hard seed coat can block water.?
Soaking a seed makes its coat harder.?
WHY THIS EXERCISESoaking lets water into the seed, so it swells and softens.

Not too deep

A seed carries only a little stored food.

A seed planted too deep can run out of food before it reaches the top.

So gardeners plant each seed at the depth its seed packet shows.

SEED SENSE
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Why did the soaked beans get bigger?
What can happen if a seed is planted too deep?
Corn has one seed leaf. How many does a bean have?
GET A BEAN WINDOW READY
  • ?Line a clear cup with a damp paper towel.
  • ?A grown-up soaks dry beans overnight.
  • ?Keep the towel damp and the cup warm.
  • ?Slide the beans between the cup and the towel.
WHY THIS EXERCISESoak first, then set up the cup, then care for it.
Try it
Look at your bean window one more time this week.
Count all the beans that have sprouted.
Compare it to your count from Monday.
Safety first
A grown-up does the soaking and handles the water jar.
Never eat soaked or dry beans used in a plant activity.
Wash your hands when you finish.
Draw a dry bean and a soaked bean side by side. Show how they differ.

Amazing week! Tomorrow is Grow It Day: we open a seed and start a real germination test.

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