Third Grade
Worksheets
Traveling Seeds
Seeds travel. If seeds grew right next to the parent plant, they might not get what they need to grow. The bigger plant might get all the sunlight. The seedling might be in the shade. The bigger plant might get all the water. It would get most of the nutrients, too. Seeds do better if they are carried away to different places.
Some seeds are blown by the wind. Some are carried by water to new places. Animals and people carry seeds. Some plants have seed pods that burst open. When that happens, the seeds are flung into the air.
Seeds that are carried by wind are very light. Maple tree seeds have papery wings that help them stay in the air. These seeds swirl like helicopters in the air. Dandelions have seeds with feathery hairs that help them float in the wind. Tumbleweeds are plants that live in the southwestern U.S. Each tumbleweed plant makes thousands of seeds. When the seeds ripen, the tumbleweed's stem gets very weak. The weak stem is broken off by the wind. Then the wind tumbles the whole plant along, spreading its seeds everywhere it goes.
