Activity Introduction

Quick summary: In this activity students plant seeds in a plastic bag and watch them grow.

These Snappy Science resources have been created to boost science education in primary schools across Australia. Each lesson is designed to support teachers with the scientific knowledge, ideas and resources to stimulate a sense of wonder and curiosity in their students. Many of the big issues that Australian society will face in the future are around technology, energy, resources and climate change. All of these require students to engage with science – but most of all to enjoy science!

Science at Home: These Snappy Science resources can also be used to engage families in fun science and learning for life. You can download a student friendly version of this activity here and you can also check out the Snappy Science Digital Library.

General capabilities: Critical and creative thinking.

Australian Curriculum content description: This activity is relevant to Science Inquiry Skills across all primary year levels of the Australian Curriculum.

Year 1 Science

  • Living things have a variety of external features (ACSSU017)

Year 2 Science

  • Living things grow, change and have offspring similar to themselves (ACSSU030)

Year 3 Science

  • Living things can be grouped on the basis of observable features and can be distinguished from non-living things (ACSSU044)

Year 4 Science

Syllabus Outcomes: ST1-10LW, ST2-10LW.

Time required: 10 – 15 minutes to set up experiment, observation time over the next several weeks.

Resources required: Paper towel, stapler, pencil, ziplock plastic bag, water, 3 different seeds, e.g. corn, beans, radish.

Safety advice: None.

Keywords: Seeds, grow, lifecycle, plants.

Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.

Worksheets

Teacher Worksheet

Brief summary:

In this activity students plant seeds in a plastic bag and watch them grow.

Students can use the Predict, Observe, Explain table on the Student Worksheet to describe and reflect upon this experiment.

You will need:

  • Paper towel
  • Pencil
  • 3 different seeds, for example corn, beans, radish
  • Stapler
  • Ziplock plastic bag
  • Water

What to do:

Step 1. Take a piece of paper towel and fold it in half. Using a sharp pencil, make three small holes along the fold of the towel, equally spaced apart.

Step 2. Place the seeds over the top of the holes.

Step 3. Fold the paper towel back, stapling up the side to make a pouch.

Step 4. Place the paper towel into a ziplock bag and pour a small amount of water into the ziplock bag (the paper towel should end up damp). Leave the bag open.

Step 5. Hang your experiment on the wall in a bright location, but not in direct sunlight.

Step 6. Watch over the coming weeks as the seeds germinate and begin to grow.

How does it work?

W

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Student Worksheet

In this activity you will be planting seeds in a plastic bag. What do you think will happen?

Predict

Explain what you think will happen:

Observe

Explain what happened:

Explain

Explain why you think this happened:
...
 
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