Get smart curated videos delivered to your inbox.   SUBSCRIBE
The Kid Should See This

From seed to sapling: Time-lapse of an oak tree

Watch more with these video collections:

Over the course of eight months, Neil Bromhall, who made the Fly Agaric mushroom time lapse video, filmed a sprouting acorn, one that he would eventually plant as an oak tree sapling in his garden:

sprouting acorn

The acorn was collected in September and filmed in an underground set using a 2 hour interval between exposures. The acorn split soon after it was planted and continued to split during the winter months. In January the first sign of root growing could be seen followed in February by the emergence of shoot. In March the shoot broke through the soil surface. The leaves formed between March and April. This is an example of hypogeal germination.

oak tree sapling
We love how the leaves seem to flutter in the sunlight. Watch this next: Acorn.

There are also lots of tree videos on TKSST, including:
• A year in the life of an English oak tree
• A Forest Year: A time lapse of the seasons
• The Anomalies: The Acorn Woodpecker
Crazy Cribs of Parasitic Wasps
• Why do leaves change color?

Updated video.

This Webby award-winning video collection exists to help teachers, librarians, and families spark kid wonder and curiosity. TKSST features smarter, more meaningful content than what's usually served up by YouTube's algorithms, and amplifies the creators who make that content.

Curated, kid-friendly, independently-published. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today.

🌈 Watch these videos next...

Why Do Tumbleweeds Tumble?

Rion Nakaya

Why Do Flowers Exist? Gymnosperms, angiosperms, and how seeds evolved

Rion Nakaya

Time lapse summer lawn daisies grow, get cut, & regrow

Rion Nakaya

Time lapse radish seeds sprouting

Rion Nakaya

This humidity-powered seed drills itself into the ground

Rion Nakaya

Think Like a Tree – Problem solving with nature’s best ideas

Rion Nakaya

The Private Life of Plants: Dandelions

Rion Nakaya

The Growing Cycles of Vegetables – Farm foods grow in time lapse

Rion Nakaya

The Fungarium and Millennium Seed Bank Partnership at Kew Gardens

Rion Nakaya