EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Because plants cannot walk around and take their seeds to other places, they have developed other methods to disperse (move) their seeds. The most common methods are wind, water, animals, explosion and fire. Dandelion seeds float away in the wind.

Detailed explanation-2: -Other seeds are dispersed by the wind-such as the “winged” seeds from a maple tree that spin and “helicopter” through the air as they fall or the light feathery seeds from a dandelion that can catch on the breeze.

Detailed explanation-3: -Wind, water, gravity, ballistic (where the seeds are ejected by forceful and often explosive mechanisms) and animals are the main ways seeds are dispersed.

Detailed explanation-4: -Water dispersal Many plants have seeds that use water as a means of dispersal. The seeds float away from the parent plant. Many aquatic plants and plants that live near water have seeds that can float, and are carried by water.

Detailed explanation-5: -Animals can disperse seeds by excreting or burying them; other fruits have structures, such as hooks, that attach themselves to animals’ fur. Humans also play a role as dispersers by moving fruit to new places and discarding the inedible portions containing the seeds.