Course info

Germination in general is defined as the emergence and development of the seedling to a stage where the aspect of its essential structures indicates whether or not it is able to develop further into a satisfactory plant under favorable conditions. The term ‘germination rate’ is a percentage of the seeds of a particular plant species, variety or seedlot that are likely to germinate over a given period and result in the formation of the seedling. The creation of such educational experiment lessons on the testing of the germination rate provides to school pupils a visible insight to the process of seedling growth under real growing conditions. Seed germination depends on both internal and external conditions. Various plants require different variables for successful seed germination. Often this depends on the individual seed variety and is closely linked to the ecological conditions of a plant's natural habitat. Seeds may harbor pathogens both inside and on their surfaces. Seeds may be infected with viruses, bacteria, fungi and nematodes which may cause the seed to show various symptoms or may be dormant until the seedling emerges or until a certain plant age is reached. Thus, getting familiar with the germination rate of a sample of seeds is anticipated to motivate school pupils to evaluate the seeds quality and furthermore to become more conscious of the need to preserve the environment. Students are challenged by the prospect of growing seedlings and become interesting from the idea that the base for successful seed germination depends on both internal and external environmental conditions. Combining theoretical teaching with a paradigm of practical application by conducting a germination test for a particular crop makes the whole procedure much more interesting for the pupils to participate.