Case 04 · Plants · Draft, not yet checked
How can one seed make so many?
Print this Case File
Six A4 pages in black and white: one page for you, a cover to colour, then Inspire, Investigate (two pages), and Integrate and Impart. Choose the level by your child, not by age. Siblings can each have their own.
Explorer draws, circles, counts and says (often ages 4–7). Investigator predicts, tests, records and explains (often ages 7–11).
Finished the case?
The ayah: Surah Al-Baqarah 2:261
مَّثَلُ ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَٰلَهُمْ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ حَبَّةٍ أَنۢبَتَتْ سَبْعَ سَنَابِلَ فِى كُلِّ سُنۢبُلَةٍۢ مِّا۟ئَةُ حَبَّةٍۢ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يُضَٰعِفُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
The parable of those who spend their substance in the way of Allah is that of a grain of corn: it groweth seven ears, and each ear Hath a hundred grains. Allah giveth manifold increase to whom He pleaseth: And Allah careth for all and He knoweth all things.
English: Abdullah Yusuf Ali
You will need
About 30 minutes · Things at home
- A handful of dry beans (green beans, chickpeas or broad beans)
- A clear plastic cup or jar
- Kitchen paper and water
- One fruit with seeds: a tomato, chilli or cucumber
The journey
- Inspire: Hold one dry bean in your hand.
- Investigate: Inside a seed · One seed, many seeds · Seeds in a jar
- Integrate: which name of Allah does it remind you of, and a small plan for the week.
- Impart: Show someone your seed jar. Tell them how one seed makes many.
For grown-ups: the science
A seed holds a tiny baby plant and a store of food. With water, warmth and air it germinates: the root grows down first, then the shoot grows up towards the light. A grown plant can make many seeds from the one it started with, which is why one bean plant can fill a pot with beans.
- • A seed contains a baby plant (the embryo) and stored food; with water and warmth it germinates, usually root first. Source: Britannica, “germination”.
- • Roots grow downwards because they respond to gravity (gravitropism). Source: Britannica, “gravitropism”.