The Bean Experiment

For the last two weeks we’ve been investigating what goes on inside a seed.

Last week Whaea Clare explained what a seed is made up of, and showed us a pretty funny video that explains what happens when it germinates. We watched as the seed shed its coat and broke open, firstly putting out a root and then a stem. We saw the roots spread out in the earth, searching for nutrition and water, and the leaves start to unfurl to gather energy from the sun.

Clare gave us some bean seeds to dissect so we could see all the parts. Beans are a good seed to use because they’re big. Some seeds are smaller than a grain of sand, so we’d need a microscope to look at those!

Now for our experiment. We each took a couple of seeds and wrapped them in a moistened paper towel, then sealed them into ziplock bags (compostable ones of course). Whaea Clare said to keep them in a light place like on a windowsill, make sure they stayed damp but not wet, and to gently check on them each day. Stay tuned for the results!