On Thursday Year 6 went to Wakehurst place
to look at the life cycle of flowering plants.
They were split into two groups.
Which took turns to visit the grounds
and the Seed Bank,
where there are over 2 billion seeds.
Its very cold in the Cryo-storage facility.
The pupils learned lots about the work Kew does
to save seeds from plants that may become extinct
because of habitat destruction due to Man's effects on the planet
and climate change.
The variety of seeds is enormous,
as is the difference in their size.
This is the worlds largest seed, weighing in at 23kg!
The smallest ones are from an orchid.
Pupils learned how useful seeds are.
And made their own films showing the work done at the seed bank.
Some budding directors and presenters were in their element.
The green houses are for germinating the stored seeds to check they are still viable.
Outside we saw lots of different flowers
and examined them without damaging them.
Some were wind pollinated
and others were insect pollinated,
so they have scent to attract the insects
and pretty petals to advertise nectar is here.
This was a great mornings education in beautiful surroundings and with excellent weather.
I remember why I love the summer term.
