Plants have evolved all manner of clever ways of spreading their seeds. One example are trees that belong to the Acer family, which includes maples and sycamores. Their seeds are attached to wings which act like tiny helicopter blades.

Acer seeds can be used for a range of working scientifically activities. It is best to collect a large amount and then dry them so they can be reused by different classes. Here are some suggestions on the kind of investigations you can use them for:

• Give a group of students around 10 seeds and ask them to measure the length of the wing(s) of each seed and then measure how far they travel when dropped. They are best dropped from a height of about 2 m. They can record their data and then plot on a graph to see if there is any correlation between wing length and distance travelled.
• Collect seeds from more than one species and give groups seeds from each. Ask them to work out which ‘design’ enables the furthest distance for seed dispersal. They should realise that they need to repeat their measurements to increase the validity of their conclusion.
• Ask students to use one of the seeds for inspiration to design their own. Groups should be given pieces of paper around A5 size, a paperclip and a pair of scissors. They can cut the paper any way they want to design their helicopter before measuring the distance it travels. They can modify their design as many times as they can in a given time limit before competing with the rest of the class to see whose travels the furthest.
• Students could also investigate the variables that affect the distance travelled by the seed such as length of wings, number of wings, number of paperclips added. They can choose their independent variable, plan their method and record their results.

Find out how water can help plants to disperse their seeds by taking a look at the Free science video – The Sea Bean.

By Gemma Young for Smart Learning