Up or Down?
Two ways seeds sprout! Ollie plants a bean and a pea, then we peek under the ground. The bean pulls its seed leaves up into the sunshine. The pea keeps its seed leaves down in the soil.
Seed leaves go up, or stay down
Every seed has a baby plant inside and seed leaves full of food. Their big name is cotyledons (cot-ee-lee-dons). First the root grows down. Then comes the surprise:
Sprouts UP
The stem bends like a hook and pulls the seed leaves up out of the soil. They open in the sunshine.
Beans and sunflowers
Stays DOWN
The seed leaves stay under the ground. Only the green shoot grows up, with brand new leaves.
Peas and corn
The Up or Down workbook
Eight low-ink pages for ages 4 to 7. Print at home on Letter paper, grab some crayons and become a seed scientist.
- Colour the two sprouts
- Sort the seeds: up or down? Then count them
- Put the bean's sprouting in order
- Bean and pea jar experiment with notes for grown-ups
- Maze, count-and-compare quiz and a certificate
A bean and a pea in a jar
Grow them side by side and see the two ways for yourself. Roots show up in a few days, shoots in about a week.
Towel in a jar
Press a folded paper towel around the inside of a clear jar.
Keep it damp
Add a little water to the bottom so the towel stays wet, not flooded.
Bean and pea
Slide a dry bean and a dry pea between the towel and the glass.
Up or down?
Look every day. Which one lifts its seed leaves up? Draw it in your workbook!
👋 Ask a grown-up to help. Dry seeds are a choking risk for little ones, and raw beans are not for eating.
Up or down?
Say your answer out loud, then tap the card to check.