Grade 4 School Garden Lesson Plan - Seeds Lesson; Seed your Saving ~ Massachusetts |=> In this activity students will learn about the life cycle of plants from seed to fruit to collecting the seeds inside the fruits. They will harvest pods of garden beans, separate the seeds from the pods, clean them and store them for the winter so that they can be planted in the spring. ` For more information, Please see websites below: ` Organic Edible Schoolyards & Gardening with Children http://scribd.com/doc/239851214 ` Double your School Garden Food Production with Organic Tech http://scribd.com/doc/239851079 ` Free School Gardening Art Posters http://scribd.com/doc/239851159` ` Companion Planting Increases School Garden Food Production by 250 Percent http://scribd.com/doc/239851159 ` Healthy Foods Dramatically Improves Student Academic Success http://scribd.com/doc/239851348 ` City Chickens for your Organic School Garden http://scribd.com/doc/239850440 ` Simple Square Foot Gardening for Schools - Teacher Guide http://scribd.com/doc/239851110

1. SAVING YOUR SEEDS!
Grade Level: Grade 4
Description
In this activity students will learn about the life cycle of plants from seed to fruit to collecting the
seeds inside the fruits. They will harvest pods of garden beans, separate the seeds from the pods,
clean them and store them for the winter so that they can be planted in the spring.
Guiding Question
How does the life cycle of the bean plant proceed from seed to seed? How can we preserve those
seeds and keep them until we are ready to be planted in the spring?
Big Idea
Seed saving is the practice of saving seeds of open pollinated plants. Most older varieties of
vegetables and flowers are open pollinated through some natural means such as wind, insects, birds or
bats. Open pollinated plants will produce seeds that are reasonably true to the original so long as they
are the only plants of their type in close proximity in the garden. Seeds of open pollinated plants can
be collected in the fall, cleaned and stored for the winter. They will then be ready for planting in the
spring. Farmers have been collecting and storing seeds for thousands of years.
Learning Objectives
To understand that a bean’s life cycle progresses from seed to seed in one season. These seeds can be
collected and stored, and will then produce a whole new bean plant when planted in the garden next
year.
Materials
* Plastic bowls or cups
* Pencils or pens and labels
* Paper Towels or newspaper
* Envelopes
* A storage container that can be tightly sealed.
* A cool and dry location for storage
Preparation
Plant snap bean seeds in the spring garden or plant a second crop around mid-summer for fall harvest.
Allow some of the beans to grow about four weeks past the point where they are ready for harvest.
Look for the pods to turn brown and dry. As an alternative plant Scarlet Runner Beans or Purple
Hyacinth Beans in a corner of the garden and send them up a fence or pole. They will bloom all
summer until frost. Pods will ripen and dry throughout the fall.
Lesson supported by a Specialty Crops Grant from the Massachusetts
Department of Agricultural Resources

2. Introducing the Lesson
Activate prior knowledge: Review the life cycle of a flowering plant. Remind students what happens
when a bean seed is planted. First the root will grow from the seed and anchor into the soils. Then the
seed leaves (cotyledons ) will emerge above the soil. These seed leaves provide food for the young
plant until it produces green leaves that are able to photosynthesize and make food for the plant. Once
the bean plant has grown to full mature size it will begin to produce flowers. Those flowers will be
visited by bees and other insects who will pollinated the flower. Each pollen grain can fertilize one
egg in the ovary of the flower. Once pollination and fertilization have occurred the petals will drop
from the flower, the ovary will mature into a pod (fruit). Inside the pod each fertilized egg will grow
into a seed. Each seed contains an embryo that is capable of producing a whole new plant given the
right conditions. In the case of annuals, such as beans these seeds can germinate as soon as they
are ripe in the fall. By harvesting and preserving the seeds, we can plant them in the spring when
conditions are better for growth.
Engage Student Interest: Tell students that for thousands of years farmers have collected seed from
food plants in the autumn. They harvest and store the seeds so that they will be able to plant these
seeds in the spring. By collecting only the seeds from the plants that grew the largest or had the best
tasting fruits and vegetables, they saved the genes for these desirable seed characteristics. Long before
gardeners were able to go to the store to buy their seeds in packets, they had to collect their own seeds
and store them for the winter. These gardeners learned to share seeds of vegetables and fruits that
were particularly tasty or flowers that were especially beautiful. In fact, Thomas Jefferson would
include seeds of favorite plants in the letters he wrote to friends. He would then write about how each
plant grew in his gardens at Monticello. Tell the students that they are going to do the work of farmers
and harvest their own bean seeds to store for the winter. These seeds will then be planted in the garden
next spring.
Procedure Total Time approximately forty-five minutes. Then 10 minutes in a few weeks for
storage.
In the Garden:
1. Divide the class into small groups and give each group of students a plastic bowl or cup for
harvesting and collecting bean pods.
2. Go out into the school garden and look for seeds from various vegetables and flowers. Observe
how different is the appearance of the fruits and seeds of various plants such as sunflowers, lettuce,
tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, and beans. Ask students to look for bean pods that are plump, dry and
brown in color. Let them know that seeds that are picked too early, won’t be mature enough to have
stored enough nourishment to have a good chance of growing in the spring. (For purple hyacinth
beans look for plump and dried dark purple pods and scarlet runner beans will have plump dark green
pods). Collect the pods and bring them back into the classroom. If you collect seeds from different
bean plants, be sure to keep them separate. (20 minutes)
Lesson supported by a Specialty Crops Grant from the Massachusetts
Department of Agricultural Resources.

3. In the Classroom:
1. Ask each group of students to prepare their work space by spreading a paper towels or newspaper
on the table top. Empty their container of seed pods onto the paper.
2. Students should break each pod open to remove the seeds. Ask them to look closely at how each
seed was connected in the pod. They will see a scar on the side of the bean where it was connected to
the pod. This scar is the place where the seed will take in water when it is planted in the spring.
3. Discard the seed broken pods. Spread the seeds out on the paper and then move each paper to a
dry, well ventilated location to allow them to dry for about a week. If seeds are not thoroughly dry
when stored, mold will develop and the seeds will rot. You will know that the seeds are thoroughly
dry when they can be shattered with a hammer. Test on just one seed; as shattered seeds will not
germinate. If you collected seed from more than one type of plant be sure to write the name of the
seed on each piece of paper. (15 minutes)
4. After the bean seeds are thoroughly dry, place them in the freezer for about 72 hours. This should
kill any insects that may be hiding inside of them.
5. Place the dried and chilled beans in an envelope. Mark the name of the seed and when you
collected it on the envelope. If you collected seed from different types of plants, be sure to store them
in different envelopes. Store the envelopes in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. The cooler
the better. Basements work well and so do refrigerators. A small packet of desiccant (such as is found
in a medicine or vitamin jar) in the container will help maintain a dry environment. (10 minutes)
Wrap Up
Discuss how plants produce lots of seeds in the fall to assure that some will survive through the
winter and be able grow in the spring. How can we as gardeners, farmers help support that process
by collecting and storing the seeds in conditions that are favorable for the seeds, allowing them to go
dormant until spring.
Assessing Student Knowledge:
Review the life cycle of the bean plant from planting the seed in the garden to harvesting the seeds.
Ask students to draw and label the cycle starting with a seed, then showing the plant, flower, fruit and
seeds. Or use the diagram on the next page and ask students to label the different stages of the life
cycle.
Lesson supported by a Specialty Crops Grant from the Massachusetts
Department of Agricultural Resources.

4. Extensions
Ask students to design a seed packet for their seeds. They can draw pictures and write a story of how
to grow the seeds.
Ask students to write a letter to a friend or family member telling them about the plants they have
grown. Include seeds in the envelope with the letter and suggest they plant the seeds in the spring.
* MA Department of Education Standards in this lesson *
Life Science Standard 1. Recognize that animals and plants are living things that grow, reproduce, and
need food, air and water.
Life Science Standard 3. Recognize that plants and animals have life cycles.
Lesson supported by a Specialty Crops Grant from the Massachusetts
Department of Agricultural Resources.

5. Books and Resources
Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom Newsletter on Seeds
http://aginclassroom.org/Newsletter/spring2006.html
A Handful of Seeds: Seed Saving and Seed Study for Educators
Lessons linked to California Educational Standards Practical Information on Seed Saving for School
Gardens History and Lore. On the web at: www.oaec.org/school-garden/handful-of- ?seeds
The Beginner’s Guide to Growing Heirloom Vegetables by Marie Iannotti (Timber Press) 2011.
The Complete Guide to Saving Seeds by Robert Gough and Cheryl Moore-Gough (Storey
Publications) 2011.
Beans by Gail Saunders Smith, 1998.
From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons, 1991.
Seeds Grown Into Plants by Mario Lucca, 2001
Please visit the Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom website at www.aginclassroom.org
to tell us how you used this Seeds Garden-Based Lesson
Lesson supported by a Specialty Crops Grant from the Massachusetts
Department of Agricultural Resources.