ElementaryScience Program

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1/10Copyright 2010 by the Board of Cooperative Educational Services for theSecond Supervisory District of Monroe and Orleans Counties, Elementary Science Program. All rights reserved. This publication may only be reproducedfor one-time classroom use. No part of this publication may be stored in aretrieval system, or transmitted or reproduced, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Monroe 2–Orleans BOCES, Elementary Science Program.

Correlation

Written under funding from Monroe 2–Orleans BOCES by:

Antonietta Quinn, Resource Teacher Ashlee Bryant, Reading SpecialistKristen Giuliano, Reading SpecialistPaulette Reddick, Reading SpecialistDesigned and Printed by the BOCES 2 Printing andGraphics Services.

Plant and Animal Life CyclesSeed Dispersal

Needs of PlantsPlants have needs that help them survive. These needs include light,water, and space to grow.

Plants can’t grow too close together because overcrowding may cause themto die. When plants are overcrowded, many plants are sharing the same amount of light and water. Plantshave to send their seeds away so new plants will grow away from the parent plant.

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Fruits are unique.There are many different fruitswhich move seeds from place to place in different ways. When you see afruit of a plant, examine it closely. The properties of the fruit will giveyou some clues about how it disperses its seeds.

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Plants throw their seeds.Some plants move their seeds with force. The jewelweed plant is an example of a plant that has pods withseeds. When one of the pods is moved it explodes open, and this throwsits seeds away from the plant. Thisscatters the seed to a new location.

Jewelweed Plant

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Seeds move and travel.A fl owering plant’s fruit holds the seed of the plant. The plant’s fruitcan help in moving the seeds awayfrom the parent plant. Look at the pictures below. What fruits do you see here?

Let’s look at the fruit of the maple tree more closely. The wing portion

around the seed is the fruit.3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333

There are many different ways fruitsare moved to new locations. A plantmoves its seed by seed dispersal,which means spreading or scattering.

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An animal also can eat the fruit ofa plant, and the seed drops to theground in the animal’s waste. A plantmay now begin to grow in this new location.

Birds eat cherries.

Bears eat raspberries.

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Animals disperse seeds. Animals help plants disperse theirseeds. A fruit may have hooks, barbs, or burrs. The fruit sticks to fur,feathers, or clothing of an animal. The fruit then moves with the animal. The fruit is licked, shaken, or picked off. It drops onto the soil in a newlocation, and the seed can grow.

Burdock has a fruit with hooks.

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Fruits may be dispersed by

wind,

water,

animals,

or force.

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The wind disperses seeds. Wind is one way seeds can bedispersed. The wind can move some seeds miles away. The new plantsthat grow will have more space to grow. They will also be able to bettermeet their other needs, like light andwater.

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Coconut trees are found on beachesnear the ocean. The ocean carries thefruit of the coconut tree and its seed to new locations to grow.

Willow trees grow on riverbanks. Theriver disperses the fruits from this tree to new locations.

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Willow

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Water disperses seeds.Some plants grow near water, and they use the water to move their fruits. The fruits that hold the seeds fl oat on the water. They can fl oat because they are waterproof. Thewater moves the seeds to a new placeto grow.

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Some fruits have wings that allowthem to be dispersed by air. The wings on the fruit help the fruit “fl y”to a new location to grow.

The fruit of the elm tree helps the seed glide on the wind.

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Some fruits have parachutes that carry them far away on the wind.Dandelion and milkweed fruits have parachutes that allow them to soar. Have you ever blown the parachutes off a dandelion plant?

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Milkweed

Dandelion and milkweed fruits have parachutes.

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Other fruits have spinners that rotate in the wind. The way they spinallows them to remain in the air. Then the wind blows them far from theparent plant.

Ash

Maple

The fruits of a maple tree and an ash tree

have spinners.

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