Seed Dispersal Analysis Questions:
1. Label each part of the seed on the diagram below:
A. _______________________________________
B. _______________________________________
C. ________________________________________
D. _____________ ___________________________
E. ________________________________________
2. Name and describe the 3 main parts of a seed
I. ___________________________________________________________________________
II. ___________________________________________________________________________
III. ___________________________________________________________________________
3. Describe two reasons why plants would benefit from dispersing their seeds.
4. Plants use many different techniques to disperse their seeds. Name four ways
that we learned about in class today.
1.
2.
3.
4.
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
5. What are some of the ways plants “convince” animals to disperse their seeds?
Seed Dispersal Activity:
Background:
Plants must disperse their seeds to ensure that their offspring will thrive in an
environment where competition and the risk of inbreeding are limited. The Earth’s
vegetation has evolved a great diversity of seed shapes and sizes, each one having
it’s own special way of dispersing or moving away from its mother plant. Seeds may
be dispersed by the wind, through water, by attaching to animals (hitchhiking),
inside an animal’s gut (yum!), or can even be “shot” out of its pod. In this activity,
you will be presented with a collection of seeds from different plant species. Your
job is to make an educated guess about how each of these seeds might be dispersed.
Procedure:
Investigate the size, shape and texture of each of the seeds in your group’s
collection. Do they have hooks or spikes or are they smooth? Are they light or
heavy? Hollow or solid? Ask yourself questions like these to make a hypothesis
about how each of the seeds is dispersed.
Data Collection:
Seed
name
Wind
Water
Hitchhiker Good
to
eat
Pop
and
shoot