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How Seeds Travel: Plants on the Move

Students discover the clever ways seeds travel to new places — riding the wind, floating on water, hitching on fur, or being eaten — so that new plants can grow with room to spread out.

Grade 2Plants40 minutes1 class period5E ModelExplicit teaching4 StandardsCommon Core
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Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Explain why seeds need to travel.
  • ✓Name ways seeds move (wind, water, animals).
  • ✓Match a seed to how it travels.
  • ✓Explain how animals help plants.
Essential Question

Plants can’t walk — so how do their seeds get to new places to grow, instead of all piling up under the parent plant?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Seed Explorer · Interactive

The Seed Explorer

Project this and tap each way a seed can travel. Have students think of a seed that moves each way.

🌱 Explore how seeds travel — tap each wayTry it

The Lesson · 5E Model

40 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Engage — Stuck in Place

5 min

If all the seeds fell right under the tree, what would happen?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Ask what if all seeds dropped straight down.
  • Note they’d be too crowded.
  • Set the goal: how seeds travel.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Picture crowded seeds.
  • See the problem.
  • Predict how they move.
2

Explore — Explore the Ways

10 min

Students investigate.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to the Seed Explorer.
  • Have them record each way.
  • Match a seed to each.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Tap each way.
  • Record it.
  • Name a seed.
3

Explain — Wind, Water, Animals

10 min

Teacher explains.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Explain wind, water, fur, eating, popping.
  • Show how animals help plants.
  • Connect to spreading out.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name the ways.
  • Explain animal help.
  • Explain spreading.
4

Elaborate — Match the Seed

10 min

Apply.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show seeds; students say how each travels.
  • Explain the seed’s special shape.
  • Design a seed that travels.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Match seed to method.
  • Explain the shape.
  • Design a seed.
5

Evaluate — Exit Ticket

5 min

Three quick checks.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Hand out the exit ticket.
  • Look for travel methods.
  • Collect as formative data.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name a way seeds travel.
  • Match a seed.
  • Explain animal help.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core literacy. State-standard crosswalks available on request.

NGSS
2-LS2-2

Develop a model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.

NGSS
2-LS2-1

Determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.

NGSS
2-LS4-1

Compare the diversity of life in different habitats.

CCSS
RI.2.1

Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Seed-travel picture cards.
  • Sentence frame: “This seed travels by ___.”
  • Blow a “dandelion” to show wind.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Focus on wind and animals first.
  • Use real seeds (maple, burr).
  • Match seeds to pictures.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Explain how a seed’s shape helps it travel.
  • Design your own traveling seed.
  • Explain pollination too.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 📓Science notebooks
  • 💻The Seed Explorer
  • 🌱Real seeds (maple, burr)
  • 🖍️Crayons
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

seedthe part of a plant that grows into a new planttravelto move from place to placedisperseto spread outwindmoving airfloatto rest on top of watersproutto begin to growpollinateto help a plant make seedsparent plantthe plant a seed came from
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
Name two ways a seed can travel.
Any two of: wind, water, on animal fur, by being eaten, or by popping/bursting.
QUESTION 2
How does an animal help a plant when it eats a berry?
It carries the seeds far away in its droppings, planting them in a new place.
QUESTION 3
Why do seeds need to travel away from the parent plant?
So the new plants have room, sunlight, and water — they won’t all crowd together.

Going deeper? Design a seed.

Have students design and draw a seed built to travel a certain way (wings for wind, hooks for fur), and explain how it works. A printable seed-design sheet is in the Science library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 How Seeds TravelFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 How Seeds TravelQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ How Seeds TravelPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: disperse, float, parent plant, pollinate, seed, sprout, travel, wind
  1. to spread out
  2. to help a plant make seeds
  3. to begin to grow
  4. the part of a plant that grows into a new plant
  5. moving air
  6. the plant a seed came from
  7. to rest on top of water
  8. to move from place to place

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. Name two ways a seed can travel.
  2. How does an animal help a plant when it eats a berry?
  3. Why do seeds need to travel away from the parent plant?
Answer key — Part A: 1) disperse · 2) pollinate · 3) sprout · 4) seed · 5) wind · 6) parent plant · 7) float · 8) travel
Part B: 1) Any two of: wind, water, on animal fur, by being eaten, or by popping/bursting. 2) It carries the seeds far away in its droppings, planting them in a new place. 3) So the new plants have room, sunlight, and water — they won’t all crowd together.