Seeds Worksheet

Dandelion-type seed head

Seeds are really important to a plant - they are its babies! There are lots and lots of different sorts because there are lots and lots of different plants.

The plants produce a FRUIT and the seeds are inside this - like the little pippy seeds in a strawberry.

Starwberry

To help the seed to grow into a new plant it is often important for the seed to be taken to a new place to start growing. The seeds are DISPERSED (spread around) by different things, as we'll see.

In this worksheet we have lots of different fruits and seeds to look at, so let's get cracking!

Where are seeds found?

in the leaves of a plant

in the fruit of a plant

in the root of a plant

What does the fruit of a plant grow out from?

the flower

the seed

the root

Here are SEVEN different fruits - how many can you name? Match the numbers with the names.


FRUIT 1	FRUIT 2	FRUIT 3	FRUIT 4

FRUIT 5	FRUIT 6	FRUIT 7

Column A	Column B
1	plum
2	pepper
3	apple
4	peapod
5	conker
6	tomato
7	acorn

In this question you have to try to match the seeds to the plants/fruits that they are from.


SEED A		OAK TREE

SEED B		DANDELION

SEED C		APPLE

SEED D		PEACH

SEED E		PALM TREE

Column A	Column B
seed A	apple
seed B	palm tree
seed C	dandelion
seed D	peach
seed E	oak tree

Seeds often need to be carried away from the plant which made them, so they can grow somewhere new.

How do you think this seed might be carried to a new place?

Coconut

COCONUT

blown by the wind

carried by a bird

float on the water

Seeds often need to be carried away from the plant which made them, so they can grow somewhere new.

How do you think this seed might be carried to a new place?

DANDELION

eaten by a bird

catch in animals' fur

blown by the wind

Seeds often need to be carried away from the plant which made them, so they can grow somewhere new.

How do you think this seed might be carried to a new place?

BLACKBERRY

eaten by a bird

catch in animals' fur

blown by the wind

Seeds often need to be carried away from the plant which made them, so they can grow somewhere new.

How do you think this seed might be carried to a new place?

BURDOCK (don't worry if you've never heard of it - just LOOK and THINK!)

eaten by a bird

catch in animals' fur

blown by the wind

Seeds often need to be carried away from the plant which made them, so they can grow somewhere new.

How do you think this seed might be carried to a new place?

ACORN

float on water

catch in animals' fur

buried by a squirrel

ANSWERS

Question 1

Where are seeds found?

CORRECT ANSWER

in the fruit of a plant

EDDIE SAYS

Seeds are always found inside the fruit: pips in your apple or tomato, the stone in your cherry or plum. The fruit is used to carry the seed away from the plant so it can grow somewhere different.

ANSWERS

Question 2

What does the fruit of a plant grow out from?

CORRECT ANSWER

the flower

EDDIE SAYS

Fruits grow from flowers! Once the bees or the wind have POLLINATED it (that's a story you will learn about) the flower dies because there's a fruit growing inside. You can see it with roses (making rose hips) or bean flowers (making beans).

ANSWERS

Question 3

Here are SEVEN different fruits - how many can you name? Match the numbers with the names.


FRUIT 1	FRUIT 2	FRUIT 3	FRUIT 4

FRUIT 5	FRUIT 6	FRUIT 7

CORRECT ANSWER

Column A	Column B
1	tomato
2	apple
3	plum
4	pepper
5	conker
6	acorn
7	peapod

EDDIE SAYS

That wasn't too hard .... was it? Some are trickier than others, but when you have the answers there, always do the ones you know first and then you'll be left with just a few to choose from. By the way, did you know that the conker is the fruit of the horse chestnut tree?

ANSWERS

Question 4

In this question you have to try to match the seeds to the plants/fruits that they are from.


SEED A		OAK TREE

SEED B		DANDELION

SEED C		APPLE

SEED D		PEACH

SEED E		PALM TREE

CORRECT ANSWER

Column A	Column B
seed A	peach
seed B	oak tree
seed C	dandelion
seed D	palm tree
seed E	apple

EDDIE SAYS

Some of these may be a surprise! You've probably seen the stone in your peach or the pips in your apple. Did you know that the little dandelion parachute seeds come from the yellow dandelion flower? What about coconuts from palm trees and acorns from oak trees? Something new to learn every day!

ANSWERS

Question 5

Seeds often need to be carried away from the plant which made them, so they can grow somewhere new.

How do you think this seed might be carried to a new place?

Coconut

COCONUT

CORRECT ANSWER

float on the water

EDDIE SAYS

Coconut trees drop their large fruits into the water (surrounded by a floatation jacket!) and they can be carried thousands of miles across the ocean - some end up in Scotland!

ANSWERS

Question 6

Seeds often need to be carried away from the plant which made them, so they can grow somewhere new.

How do you think this seed might be carried to a new place?

DANDELION

CORRECT ANSWER

blown by the wind

EDDIE SAYS

Dandelion seeds are carried on those 'clocks' you like to blow - their parachute seeds catch the wind and float for miles on a breezy day. That's why you find dandelions growing almost anywhere!

ANSWERS

Question 7

Seeds often need to be carried away from the plant which made them, so they can grow somewhere new.

How do you think this seed might be carried to a new place?

BLACKBERRY

CORRECT ANSWER

eaten by a bird

EDDIE SAYS

Not a phone this time, this blackberry is sweet and juicy (you know it!) and birds love them. They eat the fruit and the little seeds pass right through the bird and out in their droppings, often a long way from the bramble bush they came from.

ANSWERS

Question 8

Seeds often need to be carried away from the plant which made them, so they can grow somewhere new.

How do you think this seed might be carried to a new place?

BURDOCK (don't worry if you've never heard of it - just LOOK and THINK!)

CORRECT ANSWER

catch in animals' fur

EDDIE SAYS

Burdock is one of those fruits that catches on your socks or your dog's fur. It's the same with those little 'sticky willy' fruits. They have tiny hooks which catch in the fur and are carried away. The animal removes them when it grooms and the seed is in a new place - clever!

ANSWERS

Question 9

Seeds often need to be carried away from the plant which made them, so they can grow somewhere new.

How do you think this seed might be carried to a new place?

ACORN

CORRECT ANSWER

buried by a squirrel

EDDIE SAYS

Acorns come from oak trees and are one of the fruits that squirrels collect in the autumn and then bury as a store for the winter. They can remember where they put most of their nuts, but not all of them. So those acorns are already in the ground, ready to grow in the spring.

ANSWERS

Question 10

Once the seeds land somewhere new, what conditions do you think they'll need in order to start to sprout (as they begin to grow)?

Tick THREE boxes.

CORRECT ANSWER

Water
Warmth
Oxygen

EDDIE SAYS

Oo, maybe a tricky one to finish! Seeds need WATER, WARMTH and OXYGEN to start their journey into a plant. Water softens the hard seed coat and starts the transport of food inside the seed and it needs oxygen to get the energy out of that food. Warmth is important to get the process going. In fact they don\'t need soil as such (try sprinkling some cress seeds on some damp kitchen towel and see!) and they won\'t need sunlight until the leaves start to grow.