Experimenting with Bouyancy, Gravity, and Design

This week we explored a student's question about seeds. It was "Why do seeds have different shapes and textures?" I approached the lesson by exploring seed adaptations and travel. We studied the designs of seeds that traveled by air (dandelion seeds), seeds that "hitchhike" (foxglove) and seeds that float (coconut). Seeds need to interact with their environment in order to find a successful place where it can germinate.  Afterwards, the students had to design and test their own seeds to see if they could successfully travel. The floaters worked with the idea of bouyancy; testing surface area and weight, and if it could hold up against wind and waves. The flyers worked with gravity; trying to use the air to slow down and control the distance and travel path. The hitchhikers tested their design on the closest thing we had to fur...a stuffed animal. Below are several trial and error tests of their design.

Floater trial 1-this one sank instantly!

Floater trial- does good until it hit a wave...

If I put the seed on the bottom, it will fly longer

A bigger parachute will help me catch the air

A successful stick! (this was his third design)

Trial 2-this time using a bigger surface area and less weight up on top

CW using a gram scale to find the weight of the marker