Don’t close this browser tab!

This Mystery is being downloaded to your device so you can play it at home without an Internet connection.

Keep this tab open once it's downloaded in order to play the Mystery.

If you experience problems, please talk to your teacher.

0% Cancel
Why do seeds have so many different shapes?

Why do seeds have so many different shapes?
Lesson narration:
English Spanish
Scroll for prep
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Slide Image
DISCUSS:
How are these seeds different from each other?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Slide Image
DISCUSS: (1 of 2)
What’s similar about these structures?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Slide Image
DISCUSS: (2 of 2)
Do these shapes remind you of any objects you use in your daily life?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Slide Image
DISCUSS:
Why might spiky, fuzzy seeds stick to some animals and not others?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Slide Image
DISCUSS:
Which material would you choose as a model for an animal’s fur? Why?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
01/18
Get your supplies.
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
02/18
Hold your cup sideways over your plate.
Squeeze glue on top of your sideways cup.
Then put 6 cotton balls on top (2 rows of 3).
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
03/18
Gently press your cotton balls together so that they are touching.
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
04/18
Draw a face on the bottom of your cup.
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
05/18
Practice moving like a fluffadoo! Hold your fluffadoo with both hands
in front of you and with your elbows bent by your sides. Hop in place
while keeping your upper body still.
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
06/18
You’ll work with a partner.
Choose who will be HOPPER and who will be COUNTER first.
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
07/18
Get more supplies.
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
08/18
Put Seed A on your fluffadoo. HOPPER: Hop in place until your seed
falls off your fluffadoo. COUNTER: Count the number of times your
partner hops.
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
09/18
COUNTER: Tell your partner the number of hops it took for Seed A
to fall off their fluffadoo. HOPPER: Circle that number in the “Test 1”
row of your worksheet.
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
10/18
Partners switch jobs. Then do test 1 for Seed A again.
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
11/18
Do the rest of your Seed A tests. Circle the number of hops your
partner counted on your worksheet. Switch jobs after each test.
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
12/18
Discuss:
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
13/18
Here’s what we noticed.
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
14/18
Get the rest of your supplies.
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
15/18
Do test 1 for Seed B. HOPPER: Hop in place until your seed falls off
your fluffadoo. COUNTER: Count the number of times your partner
hops. HOPPER: Record your results.
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
16/18
Do the rest of your Seed B tests.
Switch jobs between HOPPER and COUNTER after each test.
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
17/18
Discuss:
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Step
18/18
Discuss:
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
CHALLENGE:
What are some other ways that your fluffadoo could help Seed B move?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Slide Image
DISCUSS:
What problems might there be if all of these seeds tried to grow in one place?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Slide Image
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Slide Image

seed


1 of 7

a part of a plant that can grow into a baby plant
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Slide Image

structure


2 of 7

the specific form and shape of something
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Slide Image

disperse


3 of 7

to move and spread out
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen

animal dispersal


4 of 7

when an animal moves a seed from one place to another
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?

survive


5 of 7

to stay alive
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Slide Image

pattern


6 of 7

something that happens again and again and again in a way that can be predicted
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Slide Image

model


7 of 7

a pretend version of something that scientists use when the real thing is too big, small, or complicated to work with
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Lesson narration:
English Spanish

Activity Prep

Print Prep

In this lesson, students explore how the structures of seeds enable them to disperse, with a focus on seeds that utilize animal structures to aid in their dispersal. In the activity, Seed Travelers, students develop a model of a furry animal (“fluffadoo”) and then use it to test how far seed models with different structures can travel.

Preview activity
Number of students:

I have a Mystery Pack

Fluffadoo Seed Travel worksheet 1 per student
Markers
1 marker per student
White Glue
Liquid glue is required. Glue sticks will not work.
Details
1 glue per pair
Black Beans (Dried)
Any medium-sized dried bean or a pony bead should work. Used as Seed B.
Details
1 bean per student
Cotton Balls
6 cotton balls per student
Dixie Cups (3 oz)
1 cup per student
Plastic Plates (10")
Used to catch excess glue. Paper plates or plastic trays also work.
Details
1 plate per student
Pompoms
Strongly recommend using medium sized pompoms (~2cm). Used as Seed A.
Details
1 pompom per student
Prep Instructions

We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work on their own.

Separate Materials for Distribution

Seed A (pompom) is distributed in Step 7 and Seed B (bean) is distributed in Step 14.

Make Sure You Have Space

Make sure students have space to hop up and down in place when doing fluffadoo + seed model tests.

General Trends

Seed A should stay on the fluffadoo the longest. Oftentimes, it can stay attached until the maximum of 15 hops. Seed B should fall off of the fluffadoo almost immediately- usually within 1 or 2 hops.

Troubleshooting

If Seed A is consistently falling off of a student's fluffadoo within a few hops, we suggest checking: (1) the pompom is being placed where multiple cotton balls touch (rather than on top of a single cotton ball) and (2) the student is “hopping gently” and not shaking their fluffadoo too hard while hopping.

Accessibility Accommodations

Instead of hopping in place, students can test their fluffadoo + seed by raising and lowering their arms while seated (mimicking the motion of a hopping fluffadoo).

Exploration

15 mins

Hands-On Activity

30 mins

Wrap-Up

15 mins

Extend this lesson

Vocabulary

Unit Reading

Transcripts

Credits