Days of gentle ripening
| Links to the story | Key Stage 2 and 3 programmes of study | Possible learning outcomes | Big ideas |
| Days of gentle ripening | discovering how seeds are formed by observing the different stages of plant life cycles over a period of time; [Year 3, KS3, Science] | Be aware that ripening is an essential stage of fruit development and plant reproduction |
being and becoming life depend depends on life organisms are organised summer stories what is life? |
The quotation from the Natural Curriculum reminds us that the time of fruit ripening is an important stage in plant reproduction. It is easy to go from pollination to seed dispersal without thinking about the importance of fruit ripening.
Ripening provides time for the seed become mature enough to be released from the plant, in the next stage of its life. Changes occur in the colour, taste, texture and smell of fruit, that will eventually entice many animals (including us) to want to eat them – helping the seeds to disperse far from the parent plant. More of that in the autumn.