Grade 2 Science Week 5 | Student Textbook

Grade 2 | SCIENCE

WEEK 5 • STUDENT TEXTBOOK • DAYS 21–25

Read each lesson with a parent or teacher and study the worked example. Then answer the questions for that day in the Week 5 Practice Workbook.

Day 21: Why Seeds Travel

A seed holds a tiny new plant. If every seed fell right under its parent plant, the young plants would be crowded and would have to share light, water and space.

Seeds that travel away from the parent plant have a better chance to grow. Seeds can be carried by wind, by water and by animals. This week we study seeds that animals carry.

Worked example: Why might a young tree have trouble growing right under a big oak tree?

The big oak’s leaves block much of the sunlight.
Its roots take much of the water.
The young tree would have little light and water.

Worked answer: The big tree would block its light and use much of the water.

Day 22: Seeds That Hitch a Ride

Some seeds have tiny hooks or spines. When an animal brushes past, the seed catches on its fur, feathers or even a person’s socks.

The animal carries the seed until it falls off or is rubbed off, often far away. Then the seed may land in new soil and grow.

Worked example: A dog runs through a field and comes home with prickly seeds in its fur. How did the seeds get there?

The seeds have hooks or spines.
They caught on the dog’s fur as it ran past the plants.

Worked answer: The seeds hooked onto the dog’s fur.

Day 23: Seeds Animals Eat and Store

Many plants grow fruits that animals like to eat, such as berries and cherries. An animal eats the fruit and later drops the seeds in its waste, often far from the plant.

Other animals store seeds to eat later. Squirrels bury acorns and nuts in the ground. They do not find every one, and some forgotten acorns grow into new oak trees.

Worked example: A bird eats berries in one yard and flies to another yard. How can the bird help the berry plant?

The bird eats the fruit with its seeds inside.
Later, the seeds pass out of the bird in a new place.
The seeds may grow there.

Worked answer: The bird carries the seeds to a new place where they may grow.

Day 24: Build a Seed Model

Scientists use models to show how something works. A model can be smaller, simpler or made of different materials than the real thing.

You can model a hooked seed with a cotton ball covered in small pieces of tape, sticky side out, and model fur with a fuzzy sock or a piece of felt.

Worked example: In a model, a pom-pom with pieces of tape stands for a seed. What does the tape stand for?

The pom-pom is the seed.
Real hooked seeds stick to fur with tiny hooks.
The sticky tape does the same job.

Worked answer: The tape stands for the seed’s hooks.

Day 25: Independent Check: Seeds on the Move

Today you will read new information and answer on your own.

Use what you learned: why seeds travel, and how animals carry seeds on their bodies or by eating and storing them.

Worked example: How does a burr travel?

A burr has hooks.
It catches on animal fur.

Worked answer: It hooks onto an animal’s fur.