Family Herb Corner
Just for Kids
PLANT SOME SEEDS AND WATCH THEM GERMINATE
Get some new packets of bean seeds, pea seeds, and corn seeds.
Soak 4 or 5 of each kind of seed in a container of water. Make sure that the water covers the seeds.
Watch them as they soak. Check on them every few hours and the next day. What happens to them? How do they change?
Get a transparent colorless drinking glass with straight sides.
Roll several layers of paper towels into a cylinder that will stand up on its own. Put the
cylinder inside the glass so that it touches the sides of the glass. You can stuff 1 or 2 wadded
up paper towels in the center of the glass to hold the cylinder against the glass.
Add water and let the paper towels absorb it.
When the paper towels are all wet, carefully put 1 or 2 of each kind of soaked seeds between the wet towel and the glass. The seeds should be about 1/3 of the way from the top of the glass. The corn seeds should be placed with the embryo facing outward.
Put the glass in a warm place where you can easily watch what happens. Look at your "garden" at least once a day.
After a few days, you should see the new roots growing down out of the seeds. Then the new stems will start growing upward. Does each kind of seed start to germinate at the same time?
Why did you plant beans, peas, and corn? Do they germinate and grow differently? Can you describe the germination differences among each kind of seed?
Don't let the paper towels dry out. Add enough water to keep the towels wet when necessary.
If the seeds start to look "furry" they have become moldy. You need to roll them up in the paper
towel and put them into your family's compost pile or into the garbage.
After you're done watching your seeds germinate, you can carefully plant your seedlings either in pots or out in your garden if the soil and weather is warm enough where you live.
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