Learning Intentions:
- Students will be able to:
- observe seeds of different sizes, shapes and colours
- discover the conditions needed for germination and which parts of a seedling grow first
- observe different seedling growth rates.
Preparation:
- You can buy clear, plastic gloves from most hardware stores.
- Soak your cotton wool balls before you start the activity.
What You Will Need:
- Large sized clear gloves.
- A range of different seeds (five minimum), e.g. pea, sunflower, bean, beetroot, carrot, onion. Larger seeds a best.
- Permanent marker pens.
- Cotton wool balls.
- Long-handled spoons for inserting seeds into glove fingers.
- Plastic pipettes.
- Water.
What to do
- Choose five types of seeds and write their names on the glove fingers.
- Soak your cotton wool balls in water, then allow to drain so they are just damp. Try not to squeeze them flat.
- Push a cotton ball into each finger. The blunt end of a pencil is useful.
- Use a long-handled spoon to place seeds onto each cotton ball. If the seeds are large, like bean, just add one to each cotton ball.
- Blow the glove up with your mouth and seal it so it stays inflated.
- Tape your glove, with the fingers hanging down, to a window pane in partial sun.
The steps are shown below.
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Observations
- Look carefully at your seedlings each day. Do they sprout differently?
- Keep a journal or take photos to record the changes.
- If the cotton wool starts to dry, add drops of water with a pipette and re-seal the glove.
- Open up the top of your glove as the seedlings get bigger.
Hints and tips
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