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Seed Dispersal & Pollination

Second graders discover how plants — which can’t move — spread their seeds to new places using wind, water, and animals, and how bees and butterflies help plants make seeds through pollination.

Grade 2Plants35 minutes1 class period5E ModelExplicit teaching4 StandardsNGSS
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Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Explain seed dispersal.
  • ✓Identify ways seeds travel.
  • ✓Explain pollination.
  • ✓Explain how animals help plants.
Essential Question

Plants can’t walk, so how do their seeds travel far away to grow into new plants? And how do flowers get the help they need to make seeds in the first place?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Match It · Interactive

Match the Way Seeds Travel

Project this and match each way seeds spread to how it works — tap a way, then tap how it happens.

🌱 Match each way seeds travel to how it worksTry it
Way
How It Works
Tap a way, then tap how it works!
The Lesson · 5E Instructional Model (Engage · Explore · Explain · Elaborate · Evaluate)

35 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Engage — Plants Can’t Walk

5 min

Plants can’t move — so how do their seeds travel far away?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show a dandelion seed head.
  • Ask how seeds travel.
  • Pose the question.

🎒 Student Actions

  • See the seeds.
  • Wonder how.
  • Get ready.
2

Explore — Explore Seed Travel

10 min

Students investigate.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send children to Match the Way Seeds Travel.
  • Note each way.
  • Note pollination.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Match them.
  • Note ways.
  • Note pollination.
3

Explain — Wind, Water, Animals

10 min

Students explain.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Explain seed dispersal.
  • Explain the ways seeds travel.
  • Explain pollination.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Explain dispersal.
  • Explain the ways.
  • Explain pollination.
4

Elaborate — Helpful Animals

8 min

Students elaborate.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Explain how animals help plants.
  • Blow or float a seed.
  • Explain the result.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Explain animals.
  • Test a seed.
  • Explain it.
5

Reflect — Reflect

5 min

Students conclude.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name a way seeds travel.
  • Explain pollination.
  • Hand out the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name one.
  • Explain it.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (Grade 2 / Elementary Science).

NGSS
2-LS2-2

Develop a model that mimics how plants depend on animals for seed dispersal and pollination.

NGSS
2-LS2-1

Investigate what plants need to grow.

NGSS
2-LS4-1

Observe the diversity of life in habitats.

NGSS
SEP-6

Constructing explanations.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Seed-travel picture cards.
  • Sentence frame: “Seeds travel by ___.”
  • Blow a dandelion.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with wind and animals.
  • Match one pair at a time.
  • Use pictures.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Design a seed that travels.
  • Explain a pollinator’s job.
  • Sort seeds by travel method.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Screen / board
  • 🌼Seeds (dandelion, burr)
  • 💻Match the Way Seeds Travel
  • 🐝Pollinator pictures
  • 🖍️Crayons
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

seedthe part that grows into a new plantdisperseto spread to new placespollena powder flowers use to make seedspollinationmoving pollen between flowerspollinatoran animal that carries pollenburra sticky, hooked seedfloatto drift on water or airsproutto begin to grow
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
Name one way that seeds travel to new places.
Wind, water, or animals (eating fruit or seeds sticking to fur).
QUESTION 2
What is pollination?
Moving pollen between flowers so plants can make seeds.
QUESTION 3
How do bees help plants?
They carry pollen from flower to flower, which lets the plants make seeds.

Growing at home? Seed detective.

Have families look for seeds outside and figure out how each one travels — does it float, fly, stick, or get eaten? A printable seed-travel sheet is in the Science library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Seed Dispersal & PollinationFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Seed Dispersal & PollinationQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Seed Dispersal & PollinationPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: burr, disperse, float, pollen, pollination, pollinator, seed, sprout
  1. to spread to new places
  2. to drift on water or air
  3. moving pollen between flowers
  4. a sticky, hooked seed
  5. an animal that carries pollen
  6. to begin to grow
  7. a powder flowers use to make seeds
  8. the part that grows into a new plant

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. Name one way that seeds travel to new places.
  2. What is pollination?
  3. How do bees help plants?
Answer key — Part A: 1) disperse · 2) float · 3) pollination · 4) burr · 5) pollinator · 6) sprout · 7) pollen · 8) seed
Part B: 1) Wind, water, or animals (eating fruit or seeds sticking to fur). 2) Moving pollen between flowers so plants can make seeds. 3) They carry pollen from flower to flower, which lets the plants make seeds.