LESSON OVERVIEW

Title: How Do Seeds Move?

Author: Jillian Buckleitner
Subject: Science
Grade Level: 2nd grade
Duration: Day one- 35 minutes

Day two- 25 minutes

Unit Description:
Students have learned about the importance of plants and how they need water and
sunlight to live. The following lesson plan would be the next step in learning more about
interdependent relationships in ecosystems.
Lesson Goals:
Students will be able to.
Name the different characteristics of seeds.
Explain how the characteristics of a seed is relevant to how to travels best.
Describe the different ways seeds can travel from one place to another.
NGSS Standard:
2-LS2-2. Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animals, wind, and water in
dispersing seeds
Big Ideas:
-Seeds have specific characteristics that help them move from one place to another.
-Different types of seeds travel in different ways.
Barriers:
Vocabulary and motivation
METHOD
Anticipatory Set
Say to students, Did you know that there are over a million different types of seeds in the
world? Explain that today we will only be learning about a few types of seeds.
Checkpoint
2.5 Illustrate
through
multiple
media
Checkpoint
3.1 Activate
or supply
background
knowledge

1. I will have the students sit around the square platform and discuss the driving
question of the lesson: How did this sunflower get in the middle of this grass field?
While asking this question I will show them a picture of a sunflower in a grass field.
2. Students will share their ideas about the answer to the question How did this
sunflower get in the middle of this grass field?
They might say, One way plants seeds move is by animals because they eat
fruit and fruits have seeds in them.
3. The teacher provides a sheet with all of the students ideas written on it so that they
can see them and refer to them throughout the lesson.
Adapted from CAST: UDL Lesson Plan Builder: http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/

Checkpoint
1.1 Offer ways
of
customizing
the display of
information

Introduce and Model New Knowledge:

I will explain that seeds come in different shapes and sizes. In other words, different seeds
look differently. Then I will explain that the way a seed looks affects how it travels from
one place to another.
I will specifically say, Now that we have some ideas about how a seed can move
from one place to another, lets go over what a seed can look like. The way a seed
looks can be important to how a seed travels.

Checkpoint
3.2 Highlight
patterns,
critical
features, big
ideas, and
relationships

Introduce ways that seeds can look. Seeds can be: (Use a mini anchor chart to show
characteristics to students)
1. Fat
2. Round
3. Skinny
4. Long
5. Fuzzy
6. Have wings
7. Prickly
8. Inside of fruits
9. Waterproof

Checkpoint
2.5 Illustrate
through
multiple media

Then, I will get a few of my seed samples out and say, Lets look at these seeds to
determine what a seed can look like. For example, the sunflower seed it flat and skinny.
o I will ask them to raise their hands so that I can call on them and they can
share their ideas. I will write their ideas on a chart.
o Students are anticipated to name characteristics of seeds. They might say
that they are round and fat based on the coconut they looked at.
Internal Assessment:
o I will ask students to quietly raise their hand and tell me about some of the
characteristics specific seeds had to re-cap what they just learned. I will say, Can
someone tell me about one of the seeds we looked at, what it looked like, and why
they think it is that way?
o Students are anticipated to share some of the characteristics they just learned using
the chart that we created. They might say, The maple seeds have wings so they can
move from one place to another.
o The teacher uses re-voicing to restate what the student says to allow the one
student with hearing aids to hear the information. The teacher will also speak into a
special microphone for this student throughout the lesson.

Checkpoint
1.3 Offer
alternatives
for visual
information

Provide Guided Practice

1. For my second activity, I will show students animations demonstrating the different
ways for seeds to be dispersed. These animations loop so that students can watch
them more than once in case they missed something. Also, each animation will have

Checkpoint
1.1 Offer ways
of customizing
the display of
information

Checkpoint
2.5 Illustrate through
multiple media

Adapted from CAST: UDL Lesson Plan Builder: http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/

Checkpoint
1.3 Offer
alternatives
for visual
information

Checkpoint 1.2 Offer

alternatives for
auditory
information

2.
3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Checkpoint
2.5 Illustrate
through
multiple
media

a description below it for students who are hearing impaired.

(http://www2.bgfl.org/bgfl2/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/science/plants_pt2/dispersal.htm)
Before showing them these animations, I will explain that animals, wind, and water help
seeds move from one place to another.
For animals, I will say, Birds and other animals help scatter seeds by eating fruits and
nuts. Squirrels and chipmunks are great seed spreaders. They hide nuts and other
seeds, but they dont always come back to eat them. Birds carry fruits such as berries,
eat the fleshy parts, and get rid of the hard seeds. If animals eat the seeds, they will
return the seeds back to the environment through their droppings. After I explain this, I
will show them the animation that corresponds with it.
o The teacher provides mini anchor charts with the information being
presented written on it for students to refer back to.
Second, I will talk about a second way animals move seeds from one place to another. I
will say, Some seeds have hooks that latch onto the fur of animals passing through a
field or forest. Then, I will show then the animation that correspond with it.
o The teacher provides mini anchor charts with the information being
presented written on it for students to refer back to.
Third, I will talk about how water moves seeds from one place to another. I will say,
Plants that live near water may use it to spread their seeds. These seeds are usually
filled with air so they can float. Then I will show them the animation that corresponds
with water.
o The teacher provides mini anchor charts with the information being
presented written on it for students to refer back to.
Fourth, I will talk about how wind can move seeds from one place to another. I will say,
Some seeds need the wind to move from one place to another. Some have flaps that
act like wings or fluffy white parachutes. Others are so small that they can be carried by
a breeze. Then, I will show them the animation that corresponds with wind.
o The teacher provides mini anchor charts with the information being
presented written on it for students to refer back to.
Lastly, I will talk about how some seeds pop open. I will say, Other plants give their
seeds a push. When seed pods are ripe, they pop open, and the seeds fly out in all
directions. Then, I will show them the animation corresponding to this.
o The teacher provides mini anchor charts with the information being
presented written on it for students to refer back to.
After each animation, I will discuss what we watched with the students.
o Students will discuss the different ways seeds move from one place to
another. They will share what they noticed in each animation and will be
encouraged to share another example if they have one.
o After watching the first animal animation they might say, I noticed that the
bird was eating the berry and some of the seeds dropped on the ground.

Third activity:
1. We will be making predictions about the best way seeds travel, test these
predictions, and then record our conclusions. Each student will get a chart that has

Adapted from CAST: UDL Lesson Plan Builder: http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/

a column for predictions and conclusions. It will also have the names of the seeds
we are testing on the chart.
2. Students will be put into groups of 3 to conduct their investigation.
3. I will say, We are going to make a good guess about which way these seeds I
brought travel best. Write your predictions down in the predictions column on your
paper. These predictions are going to be what YOU think, not what your group
thinks.
4. In their groups, each group will be assigned a seed and investigate if it is
transported best by water, wind, or animals. Each group will get a bowl of water, a
stuffed animal, and a paper fan.
5. Before we begin our tests, I will ask students to make predictions for each seed.
After everyone had investigated their assigned seed, they will put their conclusion
about their seed in the conclusion column.
6. I will ask each group to share which way they think this seed would travel best and
why?
o Students are anticipated to share their observations and actively participate
in this experiment.
o If a student does not respond, the teacher will ask the student if they need
help from a classmate to provide social support.
o We will go over conclusions as a group and come up with a group conclusion.
o The teacher provides an anchor chart to write down students ideas so they
can refer to them throughout the lesson.
Provide Independent Practice
1. Have students practice making predictions by themselves.
2. Inform them that they will not be collaborating with their fellow classmates while
making their predictions.
3. Give them sentence starters for making predictions and conclusions. On a large
piece of paper, write I predict that and I conclude that

1.
2.
3.

4.

WRAP UP
Before the assessment, I will ask students to share some of the results from the
experiment we conducted the other day.
Then, I will ask them for each seed we tested, Why do you think they traveled best
by (water, wind, or animals)?
Students are expected to state the conclusions we came up with as a class and
explain how we came up with these conclusions. They might say, The maple leaf
traveled best by wind because it has wings and flew away and it didnt float or stick
to the animals fur.
The teacher will show students the anchor chart in case they forgot how each seed
traveled best.
ASSESSMENT

1. After re-capping our experiment, I will give the students an assessment.

Adapted from CAST: UDL Lesson Plan Builder: http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/

Checkpoint
6.3 Facilitate
managing
information
and resources

Checkpoint
8.3 Foster
collaboration
and
communication

Checkpoint
5.2 Use
multiple
tools for
construction
and
composition

Checkpoint
7.1 Optimize
individual
choice and
autonomy

2. Before they start, I will explain what they need to do.

3. I will say, For this assessment, I would like you to choose one of the seeds that we
tested in our experiment. Once you have chosen a seed, draw the way that it travels
best in the box (There is a large box on the top of the sheet). Once you are done with
your drawing, explain it in the lines below (There are lives provided under the box).
In your explanation, talk about which seed you chose, how it travels best, and how it
looks and why that is important to how it travels best.
Checkpoint 5.1 Use multiple
4. These directions will also be on the assessment sheet.
media for communication

Choose one of the seeds that we tested in our investigation and draw how
it travels best in the box below.

Now, explain what you drew in the box. What seed did you pick? How
does it travel best and why? How does the seed look and does this affect
how it travels?

Adapted from CAST: UDL Lesson Plan Builder: http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/

MATERIALS
o Anchor charts (how seeds travel, with driving question, to write down students
thoughts, to present information listed above)
o Seed investigation sheets for each student
o Assessment sheets
o Picture of a sunflower in a grass field
o Seed samples for students to look at and use in the experiment
o 5 bowls filled with water
o 5 stuffed animals
o 5 paper fans
o Computer to show animations on

Adapted from CAST: UDL Lesson Plan Builder: http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/

Adapted from CAST: UDL Lesson Plan Builder: http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/