Buried seeds, buried treasure
Teacher Copy, 
Data Nuggets developed by Michigan State University fellows in the NSF BEACON and GK-12 programs
1
Buried seeds, buried treasure
Featured scientist: Marjorie Weber from Michigan State University.
Other scientists: Frank Telewski, David Lowry, Lars Brudvig, and Margaret Fleming.
Written by: Elizabeth Schultheis and Melissa Kjelvik.
Research Background:
One of the world's longest-running science experiments lies hidden in the soil beneath
Michigan State University’s campus. Over 100 years ago, a scientist named William J. Beal
had a question: how long do seeds survive underground? To find out, he started an
experiment. In 1879 he filled 20 bottles with sand and seeds from local plants. William
buried these bottles and created a map to document their location, hoping that future
scientists would continue to dig them up to test the seeds long after his death.
These bottles and the map have been passed down from generation to generation, with
each new scientist responsible for training their predecessors. To protect the seeds, only a
select few scientists are let in on the secret. Today a team of four plant biologists hold the
map, and they were the ones to dig up the most recent bottle in 2021.
Early one Thursday morning, before the sun had risen, the team set out on their mission.
Marjorie Weber, the first woman to be in
charge of the study and currently the
youngest team member, was the scientist
who found the bottle and pulled it from the
ground. This is a big deal, as back when
William began the experiment women
weren’t even allowed to be scientists!
Originally, the Beal Seed Experiment was
designed to test seed viability, or how long
seeds of different species stay alive in the
soil and still germinate. Seeds don’t
germinate as soon as they fall off their
mother plant. They become part of a seed
bank below the soil, waiting for the right
conditions to tell them to sprout. William was
working with local farmers in Michigan, and
Teacher Note: To begin this lesson and engage students in the research, you can show this
video featuring the hunt for the most recent bottle in this experiment, dug up in 2021:
https://youtu.be/Xw8MCFGsGCE
Marjorie (right) and David (left) digging up the seed
bottle in 2021. This bottle was scheduled to be dug
up in 2020, but the experiment was delayed one
year due to COVID-19.
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Data Nuggets developed by Michigan State University fellows in the NSF BEACON and GK-12 programs
2
he was interested in helping them better understand how
long weeds will continue to pop up in their fields after they
start to plant crops. This is reflected in the fact that many of
the species included in the experiment are weeds in
agricultural fields.
Despite all the changes that have taken place in the world
since the seeds were buried 142 years ago, the main
question remains the same: how long can seeds stay alive
in the soil? In addition to helping farmers, Marjorie and the
other scientists now have additional reasons for wanting to
understand seed viability. Restoration of natural plant
communities, conservation of endangered species, and
removal of invasive plants from fragile ecosystems can all
benefit from a knowledge of the seedbank.
With this long-term study design, scientists can compare
how many seeds sprout and which species are able to
germinate through time. Originally, William dug up a new
bottle every five years. Once scientists realized how long the seeds last, they made the
interval between excavations longer; now they wait 20 years before digging up the next
bottle. The experiment is set to go at least another 80 years. Imagine, future bottles will be
dug up by scientists who are not even born y