Dissecting a seed

We planted seeds today, and I wanted the children to see how a seed sprouts, so we dissected a giant lima bean. I had soaked it over night, then today I sliced it open for them to identify the 3 main parts of the seed. The first picture above, I found when I googled lima bean photo's and it shows the three main parts. The outer skin, the meaty part that the embryo feeds on as it grows, and the embryo itself that grows into the plant. Below is our seed up close. They found this so very interesting, and since the bean was so large, it was easy to identify the different parts. To the left is our seed dissected, and to then the other pictures are their investigations.

Even my 2.5 yr. old thought it was fascinating. Fun fun fun. :) Hello, and welcome Spring!

Sprouting seeds

I found this great idea in the Family Fun magazine. The photo above is what I tore out of the magazine, until I had the time to do the project.




We finally took the time to get our seeds started today. It's a little messy trying to get the soil in the little pockets, so I recommend doing that outside. :) My son planted okra, and squash. My oldest daughter loves tomatoes and pickles so she planted two kinds of tomatoes and some cucumbers.

My youngest had to get in on the fun with big brother and sister, and so she planted more cucumbers and some dill. We're hoping to make a little playhouse out of the cucumber vines. So... we needed several cucumber plants. We're probably going to have cucumbers out our ears. :) lol

We used baseball card protective sheets, filled each pocket with soil, watered it with a turkey baster, and added a seed or two. I've placed them in the laundry room to sprout and in a couple days we'll attach them with suction cups to the window to grow in the sun. :)

Nice space saving idea huh! Also since the protective sheets are clear, the children will be able to watch the roots grow. We also dissected a lima bean today to see the parts of a seed. I'll try to post that later. :)


Here the seeds are a week later growing quick. Note how well you can see the roots growing through the clear plastic on the right. Pretty neat for the children. My oldest noticed his new sprout turning from yellow to green in the window today. I think it might be time to study photosynthesis. :) See the outer layer of our cucumber seeds skin there on your left? My children can see how their seed "really" grew into this plant.