Seeds Get Around
Words to know before you read
  • current- the part of the air or water that is moving constantly in a single direction
  • hitchhiker- someone who travels by asking for free rides along the road
  • ocean swell- a large, long wave or many waves happening after a storm
  • tide- the rising and falling of the ocean that happens twice a day. It is due to the gravity of the sun and the moon.

Plants may not be able to move from place to place, but seeds can. Here are some ways that seeds get around:

Seeds with wings - Some seeds have parachutes or wings like a glider. The wings and parachutes slow them down as they fall from the mother plant. Then the seeds are carried away from the mother by air currents. The dandelion seeds in this drawing are a great example.
Hitchhikers - Have you ever gotten home from a field trip and found your socks covered with sticky or prickly seeds? These seeds are now in a new place because you carried them. Animal fur and feathers are also good places to stick to. Another way to catch a ride is to get eaten and travel inside the gut of an animal. When the animal gets rid of waste, it also gets rid of the seed, dropping it in a new place with a nice pile of fertilizer.

Going with the flow - The seeds of some plants that live in the water, or close to it, can float. A good example is the coconut. A coconut falls from its mother plant onto the beach. When the tide comes up or there's a swell, the ocean picks up the floating seed. Ocean currents then take the seed to another beach, where it can grow into a coconut palm tree. 

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