- box full of previously collected seeds
- children’s bag collections
- cup of water
- egg cartons (one for each child)
- glue
- Illustrations/labels for sorting chart (one of each for each child): wind blowing a seed, water carrying a seed, animal eating a seed, seed on animal’s fur
- sorting chart for each child
- stuffed animals
- seed
- test
- travel
MA Standards:
Language/L.PK.MA.6: Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, listening to books read aloud, activities, and play.
Language/L.PK.MA.5.a: Demonstrate understanding of concepts by sorting common objects into categories (e.g., sort objects by color, shape, or texture).
Mathematics/Measurement and Data/PK.MD.MA.3: Sort, categorize, and classify objects by more than one attribute.
Head Start Outcomes:
Logic and Reasoning/Reasoning and Problem Solving: Classifies, compares, and contrasts objects, events, and experiences.
Science Knowledge/Scientific Skills and Method: Observes and discusses common properties, differences, and comparisons among objects.
Science Knowledge/Scientific Skills and Method: Collects, describes, and records information through discussions, drawings, maps, and charts.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Language 2: Participate actively in discussions, listen to the ideas of others, and ask and answer relevant questions.
Science and Technology/Inquiry Skills 4: Record observations and share ideas through simple forms of representation such as drawings.
Mathematics/Patterns and Relations: 8 Sort, categorize, or classify objects by more than one attribute.
EEC Infant and Toddler Guidelines:
PW44.: The older toddler participates in physical care routines.
PW45. The older toddler develops self-help skills.
Explore Together (outdoors): Sort the Travelers
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care. All rights reserved.
STEM Key Concepts: Fruits have seeds; Seeds hold what a plant needs to make more of itself; People and other animals interact with their environment through their senses
ELA Focus Skills: Compare and Contrast, Listening and Speaking, Vocabulary
Educator Prep: Create a sorting chart for each child by drawing a line down the middle and across the middle of a sheet of paper.
Safety Tips:
- Remind children to wash their hands before and after the activity.
- Take children’s dietary needs into account before introducing them to any food items.
- Be aware of and check for poison ivy, poison sumac, and thorny or prickly bushes before gathering children in a designated area.
- Remind children not to eat ANY plants or touch any plants without asking an adult.
If possible, carry the exploration on outdoors so children can test the different ways seeds might travel using the wind or a natural water source. Tell children they are going to explore the seeds they collected yesterday. They are going to make predictions about different seeds, investigate different ways the seeds might travel, and then sort the seeds according to what they find out.
Distribute the sorting charts and remind children that many plants have seeds that travel. Say, That means they leave the parent plant and go to different places. Discuss the ways that different types of seeds might travel; for example, Some seeds may be blown by wind; some may float away on water; some may get eaten by animals and some may be carried away on animals’ fur. Ask children, How do you think animals might spread seeds by eating them? (popular answer: poop)
Give each child his or her seed bags to explore. (You may want to limit the amount of seeds if time is an issue.) Demonstrate how children will test each of the seeds:
- Wind test: Hold the seed in the air (does it blow in the wind?).
- Water test: Drop the seed into a cup of water (does it float on water?).
- Animal fur carrier test: Press the seed onto a stuffed animal (does it stick to the fur?)
- Animal mouth carrier: Make a guess about the seed (would an animal eat it?)
Encourage children to closely observe each seed, predict one way it might travel and place it on the corresponding section of their chart. Then encourage children to work in pairs or small groups to test the seeds. If their prediction was correct, invite them to glue the circle on the chart, if not ask them to place the seed back in the box/bag.
As children are exploring, observe, listen to, and engage them, asking questions like:
- Were you surprised that the acorn floated to the top of the water? What did you predict would happen? Do you think the acorn might travel in any other way?
- What do you notice about the seeds that are sticking to the stuffed dog? How are they different from the seeds that animals might carry in their mouths? How are they similar?
Reflect and Share
Have children share their observation charts as they discuss their explorations with the group. Ask questions such as,
- What did you find out about how seeds might travel that was the same as you predicted?
- What did you find out that was different from what you predicted?
- What did you notice was similar about the seeds that can be blown? The seeds that can float on water? The seeds that can stick to animals’ fur? The seeds that animals might eat?
- Did you discover that any of the seeds you tested might travel in more than one way? Which ones?
- Why do you think it’s important for seeds to travel to different places?
Have children put their seeds back in their bags. Save the bags for a Small Group activity.
English Language Learners: Clarify the meaning of the word test for children. Lead them to understand that when you “test” something you try it out to see if it will work or not. Explain that it is a different meaning of the word than to “take a test.” Say, You take a test to find out if you know something. You test something to find an answer. Give an example such as, I wanted to know if the seed would float so I tested it by putting it in the water.