University of Illinois Extension

The Great Plant Escape Glossary Green Links


You knew how a seed becomes a plant.

  1. The plant produces its seed.

  2. The seed is dropped from a plant, blown by the wind, or carried away by an animal.

  3. The seed ends up on good soil.

  4. The seed takes up water.

  5. One part of the seed, the embryo, begins to get energy from another part of the seed--the endosperm.

  6. The embryo begins to grow a small root--called the radicle--downward to find moisture.

  7. A shoot--called the plumule--begins to grow upwards in search of light and air.

  8. The seed leaves--called the cotyledons--emerge.

Now go on to learn what seeds are used for food . . .