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Seed Dispersal Worksheets for 2nd Grade

11 free PDFsUS Letter or A4Answer key includedNo login

How seeds travel by wind, water and animals, seed models to build and test, and how animals pollinate flowers.

Download the seed dispersal worksheets

How seeds travel

A poster of six ways seeds travel, a wind, water or animals sort, a matching page and its cut and paste twin, and a fill in the blank about seed parts.

Read and check

A nonfiction passage about seed dispersal and a true or false review.

Seed models

Build a sticky seed model and test paper seed models that spin through the air.

  • Preview of the printable “Seed dispersal Model: make a sticky seed” worksheet: building a model that shows how animals carry seeds on their furView larger

    Seed dispersal Model: make a sticky seed

    Building a model that shows how animals carry seeds on their fur

    US LetterPDFA4PDF

    1 page30 KB

  • Preview of the printable “Seed dispersal Investigation: flying seed test” worksheet: testing models of wind-dispersed seeds and comparing how they performView larger

    Seed dispersal Investigation: flying seed test

    Testing models of wind-dispersed seeds and comparing how they perform

    US LetterPDFA4PDF

    1 page32 KB

Pollination

Read how bees and other animals pollinate flowers, then build a pollinator model.

  • Preview of the printable “Pollination reading passage for 2nd grade” worksheet: reading about how animals pollinate flowers and answering questionsView all 2 pages

    Pollination reading passage for 2nd grade

    Reading about how animals pollinate flowers and answering questions

    Answer key on page 2

    US LetterPDFA4PDF

    2 pages68 KB

Print at 100% (actual size) for the cleanest tracing lines.

About these seed dispersal worksheets

Plants cannot walk, yet their seeds end up far away. In 2nd grade, children find out how: some seeds float or spin on the wind, a coconut can float across the sea, burrs hitch a ride on fur, and birds and squirrels carry seeds in their stomachs and their mouths.

These seed dispersal worksheets pair simple sorts and matching pages with hands-on models. Children build a sticky seed and test it on a fuzzy sock, drop paper seed models to see which stays in the air longest, and play the part of a bee to move “pollen” from flower to flower.

Pages are black and white with short directions a 2nd grader can read. Each prints on US Letter or A4, and every page with right answers has a key on page 2.

Standards

  • NGSS 2-LS2-2Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.1Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
  • NGSS K-2-ETS1-3Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.

How to use them

  1. Collect real seeds if you can: a dandelion head, maple seeds, burrs, an acorn and some berries. Let children guess how each one travels before the poster.
  2. Use the sort, the matching page and its cut and paste twin to practice the three ways seeds travel.
  3. Run the two model investigations on one day: the sticky seed and the flying seed test.
  4. Read the pollination passage, then let children try the be-a-pollinator model with chalk dust and pipe cleaners.
  5. End with the true or false page as a quick check.

Teaching tips

  • Seed dispersal means seeds moving away from the parent plant. Seeds that land far away do not have to share water, soil and light with their parent.
  • Seeds that birds eat often pass through unharmed and grow where they land. This surprises many children.
  • A model is a way to show how something works. Ask: how is your sticky seed like a real burr? How is it different?
  • Pollination is different from seed dispersal: pollinators move pollen between flowers, and only then can the flower make seeds.
  • For the flying seed test, keep the drop height the same each time so the test is fair.

Questions teachers and parents ask

What is seed dispersal?

Seed dispersal is how seeds move away from the plant that made them. Seeds travel by wind, by water, by sticking to animal fur, inside animals that eat fruit, by animals that bury them, and by pods that burst open.

Why do seeds need to travel?

If every seed fell under its parent plant, the young plants would be crowded and would have to share the same water, soil and sunlight. Seeds that travel can find room to grow.

What does pollination have to do with seeds?

Many flowers need pollen from another flower of the same kind before they can make seeds. Bees, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds and some bats carry pollen from flower to flower.

Are there answer keys?

Yes. Sorts, matching, fill in the blank, reading passages and true or false pages have keys on page 2. Model and test pages are open-ended.