Sand Bean update

The bean in the sand has now gone mouldy! I did hold out some hope when I saw that the seed was beginning to split as the photo shows. However the seed has now gone mouldy, the salt content in the sand from the beach was clearly to high for the seed to germinate.

Gravel Bean

Well something else has found our bean investigation successful!!! I have found a few holes developing on 'Bean's leaves. It seems that we have an intruder! No less than a caterpillar who I have named Ceril! Needless to say he likes 'Bean' and we may not have much left to measure soon. Have taken a final photograph which I shall post and will measure 'Bean' before Ceril has finished munching!

Go cotton Wool

Well the bean is still growing! It now stands well above the top of the cup in which is was planted. However; the leaves seem to now be getting a few black spots on them which have not been noticeable previously. On research I have found out that plants obtain essential minerals from the soil. The most important nutrients are Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Although these are not needed to produce food as plants produce food through photosynthesis, plants need these nutrients and minerals in order to maintain cell walls, cell membranes, proteins and plant DNA. Magnesium, iron and sulphur are used in the manufacture of chlorophyll and are also important. If these minerals are usually found in soil it would be a safe assumption that my bean is not getting these minerals from the cotton wool. As I mentioned in my last post the bean had enough energy within it to successfully germinate. However; now it is becoming a plant, perhaps the black spots on the leaves indicate a deficiency. If the plant is not getting enough minerals to make chlorophyll then this maybe a reason why some parts of the leaves are black not green. I will keep a close eye on it and comment further at a later date!

The compost bean so far...

On Monday 29th October I put my bean into soak for 24hours. Exactly 24 hours later it was time to place my bean into a pot of damp compost and place it on my windowsill. It has sat there ever since making gradual progress over time. I continued to monitor the bean each day, adding water when necessary to make sure that the compost stayed damp. The first signs that it was developing was a few days later when I started to see roots growing. Then, on the 3rd November the bean’s shoot broke through the surface of the compost (picture A). It started as only 7mm out from the soil but as the days went on it quickly grew. I took my next picture the following day (picture B) and it now stood 2cm tall. I also tried to take a picture of the root network which was also making rapid progress (the picture did not come out very clearly though due to reflection (picture C). I then took another picture on 6th November (picture D), which shows that it has again grown and now stands at 3cm tall. The final photo taken so far was on 11th November (picture E) where it now stands 6cm tall. I have also taken a picture from above the bean to show how the leaves have opened out (picture F).

Picture A: Picture B:

Picture C: Picture D:

Picture E: Picture F:

Bean in Gravel

The bean is doing fantastic! Originally I wasn't sure if it was going to grow as the water could not be absorbed into the gravel and lay in the bottom of the cup, but it has and is growing really well.

Jelly Bean in the bin

Despite all my hopes, I'm afraid I have to report the demise of Jelly Bean. It was too mouldy to save. It has now gone to the recycling bin!

Jelly Bean in Crisis

At the end of week one, I'm sorry to have to say that the jelly bean has become the mouldy bean. Unfortunately, there are no other signs of growth. I'll leave it on the window sill though for a bit longer, just to see if the bean stages a fight back, but at this moment the outlook is bleak...

Bean in cotton wool

Week One

Exciting developments! The bean has started to sprout in the cotton wool after less than a week. Here is a picture of it.

There is definitely a green shoot coming out of one side. The bean seed must therefore be getting enough moisture from the cotton wool to be able to germinate! Because the bean has previously got starch within the seed (in the cotyledons), the bean seed doesn't need to get energy from anywhere else in order to germinate. The moisture from the cotton wool is therefore sufficient to allow the bean to grow. The seed has been able to germinate effectively in damp cotton wool. However; as it becomes a plant it needs to be able to gain nutrients from the soil in order to help the cells develop for photosynthesis. I'm not sure therefore how long my plant will keep up its continual growth without the soil containing the nutrients it may need!

Seed germination worksheets and other resources

I found these resources on the Primary Resources website.

In the Growth and Nutrition section:
-Bean plant (Katherine Rayner) - a good picture of a bean plant
-Seeds growing plants (Victoria Jackman)- a diary of how my seed grows

In the Reproduction section:
-Seed Germination (Lynne Hardwidge) - seed germination worksheet
-Growing plants from seeds (Robert Drummond) - seeds worksheet
-Seeds Comprehension (Robert Drummond) - seeds comprehension sheet
-Plant Cycle Dominoes (Mark Richardson)

The Topmarks education website lead me to these good websites:
Biology of Plants This website even has speeded up photography of germination!
BBSRC Website Seeds and Plant Growth Discovery Pack for 5 - 12 year olds

BBC Bitesize page
Picture courtesy of BBC bitesize.

Video on how to plant broad beans

Wikipedia Site on Broad Beans

Lifecycle book suitable for Primary Children:
The Life of a Broad Bean by Clare Hibbert

Seed Poems

I thought that it might be good for us to add any useful resources to our blog if we came across them.
I found some lovely seed poems, which might make a nice cross-curricular link on the CanTeach website.
Although, because they talk about light in the poems, we'd need to reinforce that seeds don't need light for germination or perhaps just use them for discussing plant growth.

My Garden
This is my garden, I'll plant it with care,
Here are the seeds I'll plant in there,
The sun will shine,
The rain will fall,
The seeds will sprout and grow up tall.

Planting
I took a little seed one day
About a month ago.
I put it in a pot of dirt,
In hopes that it would grow.

I poured a little water
To make the soil right.
I set the pot upon the sill,
Where the sun would give it light.

I checked the pot most every day,
And turned it once or twice.
With a little care and water
I helped it grow so nice.
Dick Wilmes

The Little Plant
In the heart of a seed,
Buried deep so deep,
A tiny plant
Lay fast asleep.
"Wake," said the sunshine,
"And creep to the light."
"Wake," said the voice
Of the raindrops bright.
The little plant heard
And it rose to see,
What the wonderful,
Outside world might be.

Little Brown Seeds
Little brown seeds so small and round,
Are sleeping quietly under ground.
Down come the raindrops
sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle.
Out comes the rainbow,
twinkle, twinkle, twinkle.
Little brown seeds way down below,
Up through the earth they
grow, grow, grow.
Little green leaves come one by one.
They hold up their heads and look at the sun.

Picture courtesy of The Big Wild Read website.

Sand Bean

Bean germination in Sand: Day 1
On Monday night at 9pm we put the beans in to soak for 24 hours. On Tuesday night at 9pm the bean was placed in the centre of the sand and then covered. I then watered it so that the sand was damp. The cup is now sitting on my kitchen windowsill.

I will be interested to see if the bean does germinate in the sand due to the salt content.

Information on Broad Bean Germination

Some good information from the The National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens website

The seed and seedling of the broad bean Vicia faba

While all of us are careful as we sow our seeds, we spend little time in concentrating upon the structure and germination of the seed itself.Seeds of Dicotyledons have two seed leaves or cotyledons, hence the name, while seeds of Monocotyledons have only one cotyledon. Most of our trees and shrubs and plants with branched veins belong to the first group, while the plants with parallel veins, i.e. all our bulbs, grasses, sedges and rushes, belong to the second group.The Broad Bean seed is formed in a large pod or legume.
The extra large seed, if soaked for 12 hours, will reveal, when dissected, its unique and intriguing structure. First observe the seed coat or testa, which is impervious to water. Squeeze the soaked seed slightly and you will notice a slight bubbling coming out of a little hole, known as the micropyle. This is where the water essential for germination gets into the seed. Near the micropyle there is a dark scar where the seed was attached to the mother plant in the bean pod, and that is termed the hilum. With your finger nails peel off the testa or seed coat and you will find two sections which are known as cotyledons. These cotyledons store starch which was obtained from its parent. When germination starts to take place this starch is converted into sugar and will give the necessary energy for germination to take place.In between the two cotyledons you will find an embryonic shoot with vein markings and an embryonic root. The embryonic shoot is called the plumule, while the embryonic root is termed the radicle. The radicle develops first by pushing its way through the soil and developing root hairs just behind the root cap which take in water and mineral nutrients by the process of osmosis. In the broad bean the plumule acts as the first pair of leaves by going green and carrying out the process of photosynthesis. In other Dicotyledons it is the paired cotyledons that form the first pair of leaves, e.g. tomatoes, lettuces, French beans and brassicas, etc. It is unique that in the broad bean the cotyledons stay below ground and eventually rot as the seedling develops into adulthood.

Jelly Bean

Bean germination in Jelly: Day 1

The positioning of the bean in the jelly was a bit problematic as it kept rising to the surface. Therefore this bean is not in the centre as planned. The jelly is not fully set as it is at room temperature but it isn't too runny. The cup is now sitting on its window sill.

I found some good broad bean images on the Dorling Kindersley Images website.

The Bean Team

Group A team - Rosie, Miriam, Beccy, Vanessa, Wendy and Elaine

We've chosen to investigate the effect of growth media on broad bean germination. All six broad beans will be grown in a plastic cup sited on a window sill and will be watered as necessary to maintain moist growing conditions. The media will fill the cups up to the tenth line. The different growth media we've chosen are:

• Compost


• Gravel


• Sand


• Jelly


• Rice


• Cotton Wool

Inspirational picture courtesy of Ben Lloyd, Year 4 - 'bean grower extraordinaire'!