---
title: Germinating Seeds | Explore Plant Life Cycle | KnowAtom
description: Explore how kindergarten students learn about germinating seeds and plant growth through hands-on activities and scientific observation in this engaging life science unit.
---

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# Germinating Seeds

In this Life Science unit, Kindergartners explore plants and what they need to live and grow.

 This page is a high-level extract of lesson four in which students make models of adult sunflower plants to explore how plants have different parts that help them get what they need to grow.

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- [Other NGSS](https://www.knowatom.com/stem-curriculum-ngss)

## Science Background for Teachers:

This teacher background gives teachers an in-depth explanation of the scientific phenomenon students will learn about in the unit. It seeks to answer the deeper questions that teachers may wish to understand about the concepts being investigated. In this lesson, students explore how a seed grows into a plant.

When plants get enough sunlight, air, and water, they will grow and reproduce. There are different ways that plants reproduce. Some plants, such as ferns and mosses, grow from spores, while a few reproduce asexually. Many plants reproduce by producing seeds. Many flowering plants depend on pollinating animals such as bats and many kinds of insects because they cannot make new seeds without pollination. Seeds are young plants inside a protective coat. Seeds have three parts: an outer coat to protect it, one or two cotyledons that store food, and the embryo, which will grow into the new plant.

With enough air and water, a seed will grow into the same kind of plant that it came from. For example, the seeds from carrot plants will grow into carrot plants, while the seeds from apple trees will grow into apple trees. As the seed grows, the plant breaks out of its seed coat and begins to sprout, a process called germination. Plants first grow roots and a stem, and then leaves.

#### Supports Grade k

![Sneak Peek Seal with Arrow](https://www.knowatom.com/hubfs/Sneak%20Peek%20Seal%20with%20Arrow.svg)

## Science Lesson: Learning About Germinating Seeds

In this brief lesson, students observe how germinating bean seeds change as they begin to grow. Students will act as scientists as they observe, document, and analyze each step of the germinating process.

[Download a Sample Unit ](https://www.knowatom.com/stem-curriculum#state)

## Science Big Ideas

- Seeds are living things that grow into plants.
- With water, sunlight, and soil, a seed can sprout and grow into a plant.

![sample unit-k8 science curriculum-knowatom](https://www.knowatom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Sample%20Unit%20CTA-2.png?width=327&height=264&name=Sample%20Unit%20CTA-2.png)

###### Discover Complete Hands-on Screens-off Core Science Curriculum for K-8 Classrooms

Prepared hands-on materials, full year grade-specific curriculum, and personalized live professional development designed to support mastery of current state science standards.

[Click Here to Learn More](https://www.knowatom.com/talk-to-knowatom-sales)

## Science Essential Questions

- Why are seeds living things?
- Where does a seed get the food (energy) it needs to grow since it doesn’t have leaves?
- How do changes in the seed help it grow into a young plant over time?

## Common Science Misconceptions

![close-circle-red](https://www.knowatom.com/hubfs/Icon%20ionic-ios-close-circle-red-1.svg) **Misconception:** Plants are not alive because we cannot see them move.

![checkmark-circle-green](https://www.knowatom.com/hubfs/Icon%20ionic-ios-checkmark-circle-green.svg) **Fact:** Plants are alive because they meet all of the requirements for life. For example, there is movement within plants; we just cannot see it.

## Science Vocabulary

**Flowers :** the parts of a plant that make seeds

**Leaves :** the parts of a plant that collect sunlight and make food

**Plant :** a living thing that makes its own food from sunlight

**Roots :** the parts of the plant that hold it in place and take in nutrients and water from the soil

**Seed :** a young plant inside a protective coat; needs air and water to grow

**Stem :** the part of a plant that holds the leaves and flowers in place; water and nutrients travel through the stem to the rest of the plant

## Lexile(R) Certified Non-Fiction Science Reading (Excerpt)

![image2-1](https://www.knowatom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Grade/image2-1.png?width=264&height=340&name=image2-1.png)

![image3-1](https://www.knowatom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Grade/image3-1.png?width=262&height=340&name=image3-1.png)

## Hands-on Science Activity

In this hands-on mini-lesson, students germinate bean seeds to observe how the seeds change as they begin to grow. They carefully observe and record the process each day over a few weeks to notice how the seed germinates and develops into a young plant. This activity helps strengthen students’ understanding of plant parts and functions as they witness each step of the seed growth process.

[ Learn More About KnowAtom ](https://www.knowatom.com/stem-curriculum)

## Science Assessments

KnowAtom incorporates formative and summative assessments designed to make students thinking visible for deeper student-centered learning.

- Vocabulary Check
- Lab Checkpoints
- Concept Check Assessment 
- Concept Map Assessment 
- And More...

[Download a Sample Unit ](https://www.knowatom.com/stem-curriculum#state)

![image1-1](https://www.knowatom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Grade/image1-1.png?width=876&height=1126&name=image1-1.png)

![alabama state standard](https://www.knowatom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Alabama-State-Standards-Alignment-1.png?width=540&height=402&name=Alabama-State-Standards-Alignment-1.png)

###### See How KnowAtom Aligns to NGSS Science Standards

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[Download the Alignment to NGSS](https://www.knowatom.com/stem-curriculum)

** Standards Tags: ** [K-LS1-1](https://www.knowatom.com/k-ls1-1) , [K-LS1-2 (MA)](https://www.knowatom.com/k-ls1-2-ma) , [K-ESS2-2](https://www.knowatom.com/k-ess2-2) , [K.2.1](https://www.knowatom.com/k.2.1) , [1.LS1.1](https://www.knowatom.com/1.ls1.1) , [S1L1](https://www.knowatom.com/s1l1) , [K.L1U1.6](https://www.knowatom.com/k.l1u1.6) , [2.L2U1.9](https://www.knowatom.com/2.l2u1.9) , [0L.2.1.1.3](https://www.knowatom.com/0l.2.1.1.3) , [0L.3.1.1.1](https://www.knowatom.com/0l.3.1.1.1) , [K.LS1.C.1](https://www.knowatom.com/k.ls1.c.1) , [3.1.K.A](https://www.knowatom.com/3.1.k.a) , [3.1.2.A](https://www.knowatom.com/3.1.2.a) , [K.LS.2](https://www.knowatom.com/k.ls.2) , [Asking questions and defining problems](https://www.knowatom.com/asking-questions-and-defining-problems) , [Developing Possible Solutions](https://www.knowatom.com/developing-possible-solutions) , [Planning and carrying out investigations](https://www.knowatom.com/planning-and-carrying-out-investigations) , [Analyzing and interpreting data](https://www.knowatom.com/analyzing-and-interpreting-data) , [Constructing explanations and designing solutions](https://www.knowatom.com/constructing-explanations-and-designing-solutions) , [Engaging in argument from evidence](https://www.knowatom.com/engaging-in-argument-from-evidence) , [Obtaining evaluating and communicating information](https://www.knowatom.com/obtaining-evaluating-and-communicating-information) , [Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms](https://www.knowatom.com/organization-for-matter-and-energy-flow-in-organisms) , [Patterns](https://www.knowatom.com/patterns) , [Ecosystems: Interactions Energy and Dynamics 3](https://www.knowatom.com/ecosystems-interactions-energy-and-dynamics-3) ,

### Supports Grade k

#### Science Standards

- [K-LS1-1](https://www.knowatom.com/k-ls1-1)
- [K-LS1-2 (MA)](https://www.knowatom.com/k-ls1-2-ma)
- [K-ESS2-2](https://www.knowatom.com/k-ess2-2)
- [K.2.1](https://www.knowatom.com/k.2.1)
- [1.LS1.1](https://www.knowatom.com/1.ls1.1)
- [S1L1](https://www.knowatom.com/s1l1)
- [K.L1U1.6](https://www.knowatom.com/k.l1u1.6)
- [2.L2U1.9](https://www.knowatom.com/2.l2u1.9)
- [0L.2.1.1.3](https://www.knowatom.com/0l.2.1.1.3)
- [0L.3.1.1.1](https://www.knowatom.com/0l.3.1.1.1)
- [K.LS1.C.1](https://www.knowatom.com/k.ls1.c.1)
- [3.1.K.A](https://www.knowatom.com/3.1.k.a)
- [3.1.2.A](https://www.knowatom.com/3.1.2.a)
- [K.LS.2](https://www.knowatom.com/k.ls.2)
- [Asking questions and defining problems](https://www.knowatom.com/asking-questions-and-defining-problems)
- [Developing Possible Solutions](https://www.knowatom.com/developing-possible-solutions)
- [Planning and carrying out investigations](https://www.knowatom.com/planning-and-carrying-out-investigations)
- [Analyzing and interpreting data](https://www.knowatom.com/analyzing-and-interpreting-data)
- [Constructing explanations and designing solutions](https://www.knowatom.com/constructing-explanations-and-designing-solutions)
- [Engaging in argument from evidence](https://www.knowatom.com/engaging-in-argument-from-evidence)
- [Obtaining evaluating and communicating information](https://www.knowatom.com/obtaining-evaluating-and-communicating-information)
- [Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms](https://www.knowatom.com/organization-for-matter-and-energy-flow-in-organisms)
- [Patterns](https://www.knowatom.com/patterns)
- [Ecosystems: Interactions Energy and Dynamics 3](https://www.knowatom.com/ecosystems-interactions-energy-and-dynamics-3)

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Standards citation: NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Neither WestEd nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it.

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