How does a seed grow?

Nora planted a bean seed in a pot and named it Pip. She made a sign with large purple letters. She watered the soil gently. Then she pulled up a chair. ‘I'm ready,’ she told the pot. Nothing happened.

The next morning, nothing seemed to have happened either. Nora fetched her toy trumpet. ‘Maybe it needs a wake-up song.’ Dad smiled. ‘There may already be growing we can't see. The seed has a young plant inside, with food to help it begin.’ Nora put the trumpet down. Pip could have a quiet morning.

They kept the soil damp, not flooded, and left the pot in a suitable warm place. Under the surface, the seed took in water. A root began to push out. Nora couldn't see it yet, but she drew a possible root in her garden notebook. ‘This part is my guess,’ she said, labeling the picture.

One morning a curved green shoot broke through the soil. Nora nearly spilled her cereal. ‘Pip!’ She brought the notebook over and drew what she could really see. In time, leaves opened to the light. The little plant was beginning to make its own food.

Nora added a final line beneath the purple sign: ‘Growing happens here, even when it looks quiet.’ She left the trumpet in the toy box. Instead, she brought Pip a careful little drink.