Helicopter hunt
Sycamore trees have 'winged' seeds, they are carried along by the wind - their shape helping them fly through the air like helicopters.
- Can you find any sycamore seeds?
- Are they ready to fall?
- Do they spin like helicopters?
Other trees, like field maple and ash trees, have winged seeds too. Can you find any of these?
I hunted for helicopters and I found...
'Tis the seed season!
Lots of other fruits and seeds are appearing now too.
Download the seed spotter sheet and see how many you can find :O)
spotter sheet
I'm a seed spotting champion and I found...
Paper models
Try making paper helicopters!
Which one spirals the most as it falls - rectangular, paper seed or real seed?
Find a real sycamore or field maple seed falling from a tree. Or find one on the ground, hold it up, then let go and watch it fall.
Does the real seed catch the wind better than the paper versions? Which one stays in the air the longest?
paper helicopter
seed helicopter
here's a pic of my paper helicopters...
Build a helicopter
Try building a helicopter out of bits of nature.
Use a winged seed for the helicopter 'blades', what else you can find for the rest - grass, bark, leaves, seeds...? Try to keep it as light as you can, to help keep it in the air.
Does it fly or just crash to the ground? :O)
Get some ideas from this one made by CLUB members Catherine and James:
helicopter
Take a photo of your helicopter and send it in, or draw us a picture!
naturedetectives@woodlandtrust.org.uk
Design a heliport
Every helicopter needs somewhere to land :O)
Design a heliport (airport for helicopters!) for your helicopter -
imagine it, draw it or make it with natural bits and bobs.
You could think about:
- the location (what destinations does your helicopter fly to?)
- designing a helipad
- what passengers you might carry - minibeasts? :O)
- will your heliport have shops? If so, what will they sell?
what's your heliport like?
Did you know?
Become a sycamore tree expert with these fab facts:
sycamore fact sheet
Decorate
Can you make this seed look as realistic as possible? Find a sycamore seed and look at all the different colours.
colouring sheet
Test gravity
Why do you think sycamore seeds fall to to the ground?
Are they pulled? Does someone pull them off the branches and lay them on the woodland floor?
It's actually the tree, the wind and gravity all working as a team.
Here's a simple but fun way of seeing gravity in action...
Find a long twig or fallen branch (one that's quite straight would be perfect) then:
- stand up straight and balance the end of the twig on the palm of your hand
- take a step forward, trying to keep the twig upright. It will probably change position!
- try standing in a windy spot - does the twig move even when you're standing still?
When you're standing still gravity makes the twig stay on the palm of your hand and stops it floating away into the sky.
When you step forward, gravity and forward motion work against each other and make it wobble.
When it's windy gravity and the wind work together to make the twig fall to the ground (unless you're brilliant at balancing things!)
I did a wibbly wobbly gravity experiment and found...
Email us your photos and stories
naturedetectives@woodlandtrust.org.uk