Did you know?


Supermarket eggs are not fertilised. They will not hatch into chickens.


Living things that come to life


Some living things do not look as if they are alive, such as seeds, eggs and dried yeast. Yet do not be fooled, they are waiting for the right time or the right conditions. When the time or conditions are right, these things will come to life.


Seeds


Dried bean seeds need water and warmth before they start to grow into bean plants.


Activity 3 Activity 3 Germinate bean seeds


Scientific method


Follow the scientific method on page 6 to help you with this activity.


Individual work Aim


In this activity you will show that seeds can come to life if they are given the right conditions to grow.


Figure 4 Sugar beans


Materials You will need: • sugar beans (or other dried beans) • two glass jars with lids • water


Method Step 1 Put some beans in the glass jars. Step 2 Soak the beans in water for a few hours, or overnight, until they swell.


Step 3 Pour off the water and put the lids on the jars. Step 4 Leave one jar of beans in a warm, sunny place for two to five days. Keep the other jar in the fridge, or a cool place. Rinse the beans every day.


Questions 1 Explain why the beans swell (get bigger) when you soak them in water.


2 State how long the seeds took to germinate. 3 State if the seeds kept in the fridge germinated. 4 List the two conditions your seeds needed to germinate.


5 Draw a picture of a germinating bean seed. 14 Strand 1: Natural Sciences: Life and living; Technology: Structures


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