Seed Surgery

Supplies:

lima bean | plastic cup | water | knife (for an adult to use!)

magnifying glass

(Note: you might want to do this in a separate cup for each child)

Put the lima bean in the cup. Pour water into the cup until the bean is well-covered. Let the bean soak for five minutes.

The adult helper should then cut the bean open, lengthwise.

Use the magnifying glass to see what's inside!

Inside every seed is an embryo (pronounced EM bree oh). That's like a baby plant.

Each seed has enough food for the baby plant to grow until it can sprout leaves and make its own food.

There are three parts to a seed:

            The seed coat is the outer layer that protects the seed from damage.

            The endosperm (END oh sperm) is the food supply inside the seed. That's most of what you see.

The cotyledons (kot tle EE dons) are the first leaves the plant produces. Can you see these tiny leaves?