An oak tree needs its acorns to

be planted in the forest soil.

But all it does is drop them on

the ground where they could quickly spoil.

An acorn is the oak tree’s fruit

containing seed and fatty food,

a kind of nut that bugs can drill

to lay their eggs where they can brood.

But once that acorn nut is used

by moths to make their baby’s home

the seed inside that acorn can

no longer live and can’t be grown.

Now squirrels are most passionate

about these tasty acorn nuts.

They eat them in large quantities

with cheeks so full they’re fit to bust!

They pick the perfect acorns last

and hide them in the forest soil,

returning in the winter-time

to dig them up and eat a meal.

But squirrels sometimes make mistakes,

forgetting where they buried some,

and so those planted acorns get

to grow as oak trees in the sun.

from “The Science Rhymes Book”