Videos, Web Pages, Books, and Peer-Reviewed Articles to Supplement The Wonder of Seeds Teacher's Guide

 

Seed Germination

Resource Type	Resource	Notes
Web Pages
	32,000-Year-Old Plant Brought Back to Life – Oldest Yet	News story on Silene stenophylla seeds dug from Russian permafrost and successfully germinated, by Rachel Kaufman at National Geographic.
	Germination:  Launching the Seed	Background and guided inquiry on seed germination and gravitropism, by Wisconsin Fast Plants.
	The Great Plant Escape Case 3:  Is it Dust, Dirt, Dandruff, or a Seed?	Student-oriented webpage with Spanish translation available, providing background information about seeds and germination, an online matching activity, and two lab activities, by the University of Illinois Extension.
	Mum’s Sprouting Seeds	This information resource on growing sprouts at home also sells over 50 varieties of organic, food-grade seed to US and Canadian addresses.
	Seed Development in Corn – A Monocot	Diagram showing corn seed morphology as a counterpart to the eudicot seed diagram at the Development of Embryo and Seed link.
	What’s a Vigor Test?	Description of seed performance tests under stress carried out by seed technologists, by 20/20 Seed Labs Inc.
Videos
	Seed Germination	(<3:00 for three movies).  Time-lapse movies of germination in corn, sunflower, and Arabidopsis seeds.  Part of the Plants-In-Motion website, by Roger P. Hangarter.
	Starting to Grow	(<0:20).  Time lapse film of seed germination within the soil.  Part of the Missouri Botanical Garden’s “Biology of Plants” educational website
	Time-Lapse Seed Germination with the QX3 Intel Digital Microscope	Lab activity using a microscope and digital camera to monitor seed germination, by the University of Virginia Center for Technology and Teacher Education.
Books & Articles
	Examining children’s models of seed	Jewell, N. 2002. Journal of Biological Education 36(3): 116-122.
	Seeds:  Biology, technology, and role in agriculture	Bradford, K.J. and J.D. Bewley. 2003. In M.J. Chrispeels and D.E. Sadava, eds., Plants, Genes and Crop Biotechnology.  Sudbury, MA:  Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 212-239.

Plant Growth Requirements

Resource Type	Resource	Notes
Web Pages
	Balanced Nutrition	Set of brief articles on plant macro-, secondary, and micronutrients. One page shows photos of plants with nutrient deficiencies; by Agro Services International, Inc.
	Fertilizer Basics	A brief introduction to plant macronutrients, secondary nutrients, and soil pH, including basic fertilizer recommendations, by Gardener’s Supply Company.
	Lighting Indoor Houseplants	University of Missouri Extension document G-6515 provides basic information on artificial lighting, including the importance of light color for plants.  Lighting requirements for houseplants are described (crop plants generally prefer higher light intensity); by David Trinklein.
	Nutrient Content of Crops	Online tool for calculating how much nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium different crop types and species will remove from the soil at a given acreage and yield, provided by USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
	Requirements for Plant Growth	A general guide on what conditions allow healthy plant growth in crop plants, with a focus on hydroponics.  From online version of Hydroponics as a Hobby:  Growing Plants Without Soil, by James C. Schmidt, John M. Gerber, and J.W. Courter.
Videos
	Plant Lighting Fundamentals	Describes the role of wavelength and intensity in plant growth and as they relate to lighting efficiency; by Inda-GRO.
Books & Articles
	Development and application of a two-tier diagnostic test for high school students’ understanding of flowering plant growth and development	Lin, S-W. 2004. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education 2(2): 175-199.
	Students’ ideas about plants and plant growth	Barman, C.R., Stein, M., McNair, S., and N.S. Barman. 2006. American Biology Teacher 68(2): 73-79.
	Students’ understanding of concepts related to plant growth	Levins, L. and J. Pegg. 1993. Research in Science Education 23(1): 165-173.

In the Life of Plants

Resource Type	Resource	Notes
Web Pages
	Development of Embryo and Seed	Diagram of eudicot seed morphology; part of a larger page of AP Biology lecture notes on flowering plant reproduction.
	Angiosperms:  Flowering Plants	Shows phylogenetic relationships among the main groups of flowering plants, including the nesting of monocots among other flowering plants that have two cotyledons (eudicots and others); by Pam Soltis, Doug Soltis, and Christine Edwards at Tree of Life.
	Introducing the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership	Describes the worldwide collaboration that has collected and preserved seed from more than ten percent of all plant species, by the Kew Royal Botanical Gardens.
	Life Cycle of a Seed Plant	Background information, interactive activity, and discussion questions on the flowering plant life cycle; adapted from the University of Alberta by WGBH Educational Foundation.
	Pumpkin Seed Bought Online for £168	News story describing a seed company’s purchase of seed from a pumpkin weighing >900 kg, by BBC News Suffolk.
	The Seed Biology Place	A comprehensive information source about seed biology by Gerhard Leubner at the University of London.
	Scientists Trace Corn Ancestry from Ancient Grass to Modern Crop	Press release about federally-funded research using genetic methods to understand the domestication of teosinte, by the National Science Foundation.
	SEEDS:  A Celebration of Science	Final project report for Space Exposed Experiment Developed for Students, a large-scale science education initiative in which space-exposed tomato seeds were grown in science classrooms in all 50 states and 30 foreign countries; by NASA Educational Affairs Division.
Videos
	Fantastic Nature Photography of Plant Growth of Brambles – The Private Life of Plants	(1:29).  Short time-lapse clip of brambles growing in a forest narrated by Sir David Attenborough; from BBC.
	Lessons from Thin Air	(56:24) Hear how Harvard students and a fifth grader answer the question, “Where does the mass of an oak tree come from, if it starts out as an acorn?” The segment from 1:30 to 6:30 shows interviews of Harvard students; continue through 17:45 to see a fifth grader tackle the question in detail.  Part of the Minds of Our Own series, from the Annenberg Foundation.
Books & Articles
	A brief history of seed size	Moles, A.T., Ackerly, D.D., Webb, C.O., Tweddle, J.C., Dickie, J.B., and M. Westoby. 2005. Science 307(5709): 576-580.
	Crime-solving plants	Graham, S. 2006. Plant Science Bulletin 52(3): 78-84.
	Plant Biology Science Projects	Hershey, D.R. 1995. (Best Science Projects for Young Adults).  New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 176 pp.
	Spiraling Through Life with Fast Plants:  An Inquiry-Rich Manual	Wisconsin Fast Plant Program. 2006. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing. 172 pp.
	Tachyplants Suited to Instruction and Research	Online version of the 1967 Plant Science Bulletin article with charts describing plants with rapid life cycles and the time required to flowering and between flowering and seed production, by S.N. Postlethwait and N. Jean Enochs.
	Wayne’s Word®: An Online Textbook of Natural History	Pages plapr98.htm, pldec398.htm, and plfeb99.htm describe three types of seed dispersal, by W.P. Anderson at Palomar College.