← Little Scientists ScienceSeeds and growing20 minutesStd 1–2

A Bean Wakes Up

✨ A dry, dead-looking bean sends out a white root and then pushes up a green shoot, all inside a glass.

Three jars showing a soaked bean on day one, a white root growing downwards on day three, and a green shoot with leaves reaching up to the sun on day seven. — How it works

🧰 You need

three dried beans or chickpeas
a clear glass jar
cotton wool or tissue paper
water
a bright window sill

👀 What you will see

In two or three days a white root appears and grows downwards. A pale shoot then pushes upwards and turns green in the light. The first two thick leaves are the seed's own food store opening out.

🧪 Do it

Soak the beans in water overnight.
Pack damp cotton wool into the jar, right up to the top.
Push each bean down the side so you can see it through the glass.
Keep the cotton damp but never flooded, and stand the jar in the light.
Look every morning and draw what you see on a new line of paper.
After a week measure the tallest shoot with a piece of string.

💡 Why it happens

Inside every seed is a tiny plant plus a packed lunch called the cotyledon. Water wakes the tiny plant up and it starts to use that stored food to grow. The root always grows downwards to find water and hold the plant steady, and the shoot grows upwards towards the light. Once the green leaves open, the plant can make its own food from light, water and air, and the stored lunch is finished.

🔁 Now try this

Set up a second jar exactly the same but keep it in a dark cupboard, then compare the two after five days.

🤔 Think about it

How does the root know which way is down, inside a dark jar?

🧘 Ask the Acharya

“How does the root know which way is down, inside a dark jar?” — ask him and he will explain it from your own chapters.

Ask Guru →

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