A tiny green sprout is pushing up through the soil, still sparkling with drops of morning dew. Turn the page to discover how one little seed becomes a towering plant.
Before a seed can grow, it needs a big drink of water. As the seed soaks the water up, its coat swells and softens until it splits open and wakes up. Scientists call this first long drink imbibition.
The first two little leaves on a seedling are not quite like the leaves that come later. They are called seed leaves, or cotyledons, and they were tucked inside the seed the whole time. They carry a packed lunch of food and can turn green to help feed the young plant.
If you look very closely at a root, you might spot fuzzy little threads called root hairs. These tiny, hair-like parts are the main place where a plant drinks up water and takes in the minerals it needs from the soil.
While a sunflower is still young and growing, it follows the sun across the sky each day. The east side of its stem grows a little more in the daytime to swing the flower to face west by evening, then it slowly turns back again overnight.
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