How Seeds Travel: Seed Dispersal — Answers
Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the Year 4 living things & life cycles worksheet.
Success TutoringWorksheetsAnswer sheetYear 4 · Science · Living Things & Life CyclesHow Seeds Travel: Seed Dispersal — Answers
Part A: Seeds on the move
Read the passage. Then circle the best answer.
Plants cannot walk, but their seeds can travel. Moving seeds away from the parent plant is called seed dispersal. It helps new plants find their own light, water and space, so they do not compete with the parent, and it lets plants spread to new places.
Wind: light seeds with wings or fluffy parachutes, such as maple seeds and dandelions, are carried by the wind.
Animals: juicy fruits are eaten and the seeds are dropped in the animal's droppings. Seeds with hooks, such as burrs, catch on fur and clothes. Some animals bury nuts and forget them.
Water: seeds that float, such as coconuts, are carried by rivers and the sea.
Bursting: some pods dry out and split open suddenly, flinging their seeds away — pea and bean pods are examples.
- ASo they can grow without competing with the parent for light, water and space.
- BSo the parent plant can sleep.
- CBecause seeds cannot grow in soil.
- DSo the seeds stay cold.
Answer: So they can grow without competing with the parent for light, water and space.
Seedlings growing right under the parent would be shaded and would have to share water and nutrients.
- Aby water
- Bby wind
- Cby bursting
- Don animal fur
Answer: by wind
The fluffy hairs act like a parachute so the wind can carry the seed a long way.
- AThey float down rivers.
- BThey explode out of pods.
- CThey stick to animal fur and clothes.
- DThey blow away on the wind.
Answer: They stick to animal fur and clothes.
The hooks catch on fur, feathers or socks, and the seed drops off somewhere new.
- ABirds carry it in their beaks.
- BIt is blown by the wind.
- CIt bursts open.
- DIt floats on water.
Answer: It floats on water.
A coconut has a light, air-filled husk that floats, so ocean currents can carry it to a new shore.
- AThe seed passes through the bird and is dropped in its droppings far away.
- BThe seed melts inside the bird.
- CThe bird plants the seed with its feet.
- DThe seed turns into a feather.
Answer: The seed passes through the bird and is dropped in its droppings far away.
Many seeds survive being eaten and are dropped in a new place in the animal's droppings.
Part B: Features and travel
- wings or parachutes
- tiny hooks
- light and able to float
- dry pod that splits open
- water
- bursting
- wind
- animal fur
Answer: wings or parachutes → wind; tiny hooks → animal fur; light and able to float → water; dry pod that splits open → bursting
Answer: dispersal
Answer: Some buried acorns are forgotten and grow into new oak trees away from the parent.
Part C: True or false?
Write True or False.
Answer: False
Seeds also travel by animals, water and bursting pods.
Answer: True
The parent's leaves shade the ground, and the seedlings must share water.
Answer: True
Animals eat the fruit and drop the seeds somewhere else.
Part D: Working scientifically: paper seed helicopters
Use Noah's results to answer.
Noah made paper helicopters with different wing lengths and dropped each one from the same height. He timed how long each took to reach the floor.
4 cm wings: 1.4 seconds · 7 cm wings: 2.2 seconds · 10 cm wings: 3.1 seconds
Answer: The length of the paper helicopter's wings.
Answer: The one with 10 cm wings (3.1 seconds).
Model answer: The longer the wings, the longer the helicopter took to fall. Seeds with wings fall slowly, so the wind has more time to carry them further from the parent plant.
Success criteria:
- States the pattern: longer wings, slower fall
- Uses the data
- Links slow falling to being carried further by the wind
Marking tips
- Give credit for correct method even when the final answer slips — the working shows where the thinking went right.
- For open-ended tasks, use the success criteria as a checklist rather than looking for one "right" answer.
- Celebrate what went well first, then pick one thing to work on next.
Great work. Here's what to try next: