Scribd
Upload
45 views5 pages

How Can Seed Spread

Seed dispersal

Uploaded by

Hanan ahmed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
45 views5 pages

How Can Seed Spread

Seed dispersal

Uploaded by

Hanan ahmed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

Future British international schools

Academic year 2024/2025


Science department
Grade 5

Handout 3
Lesson3 How seeds are spread
A fruit is the part of a flowering plant that contains the seeds.
Fruits usually have a skin on the outside, seeds inside and flesh around the seeds.
A fruit has two jobs:
 Protect the seed inside.
 Help spread the seeds.

What is seed dispersal?


It’s important for fruits and seeds to be scattered in different directions and
locations, far away from the parent plant this is known as seed dispersal.
Seed dispersal happens when a fruit is ripe. The seeds are ready to grow into new
plants.

Dispersal ensures that young plant growing from seeds will find enough nutrients
and will not compete with the parent plant for sunlight, water, nutrients and space.

Plants are not able to move from one place to another so Plants are adapted to
disperse their seeds in different ways.

Ways of Seed dispersal


There are 5 ways of seed dispersal
1) Dispersal by animals.
2) Wind.
3) Water
4) Some Seeds are dispersed by explosion
5) Some fruits drop and roll

1
Future British international schools
Academic year 2024/2025
Science department
Grade 5

1) Dispersal by animals:

Some fruits use animals to spread their seeds.


Fruits that spread in this way must attract
animals to eat them.
 Features of seeds dispersed by animals:
1) The fruits are often colorful.
2) soft and juicy, and taste good.
3) They usually have small seeds.

How seeds dispersed by animals?


Tiny seeds are swallowed by animals and then passed out unharmed by the animals.
So The seeds pass through the animal’s body and are dispersed in the animal’s
droppings.

This may be far away from where the animal ate the fruit.
Some animals collect fruits or seeds and bury them away.
 Some fruits and seeds have spines and hooks.
These stick onto animal fur or the clothes of people.
2) Some seeds dispersed by wind:

Example: dandelion seed – ash tree seed and poppy fruit seed.

Features of seeds dispersed by wind:

 Seeds that are dispersed by wind are light.


 have a parachute of hairs to help them float in
the air like Dandelions.
Dandelion seed

2
Future British international schools
Academic year 2024/2025
Science department
Grade 5

Other seeds have thin papery ‘wings’ (winged seeds) to help them blow away
easily, like ash tree.

Ash tree seed

 Some seeds like poppy fruit seeds forms


a pepper pot with holes in it. When the
wind blows, the seeds are shaken out and
blown away.

When wind blows the stem back and forth


seeds are thrown out like a hand shaking a
pepper pot so seeds scattered.

Poppy fruit

3
Future British international schools
Academic year 2024/2025
Science department
Grade 5

3)A few seeds are dispersed by water.

The fruit must float to carry the seeds away.

These fruits have a spongy covering that helps


them float. For example, the coconut is
dispersed by water.

Coconut fruit

Mangroves are trees that grow in salty water in warm, wet


regions. Their seeds, called ‘sea pencils’, float upright in
the sea until they are washed onto land.

Mangrove seeds

4
Future British international schools
Academic year 2024/2025
Science department
Grade 5

4) Seeds are dispersed by explosion


Some fruits disperse their seeds by themselves. The
fruit dries out and splits open to let the seeds fall out.
Some fruits explode and shoot out their seeds.

For example:
bean pods dry out and explode in hot weather

5) Some fruits drop and roll

Some fruits are heavy and round.

When the fruits are ripe, they drop from the


tree and roll along the ground.

Apple seeds are dispersed this way.


Fruits that have a softer skin may break open
when they hit the ground and scatter the
seeds.

You might also like