Grain Kernel Labeling the Parts – Wheat Kernel Worksheet

All 8 parts on the diagram

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The kernel 5

Bran The outer skin of the kernel, made of several layers.
Endosperm The largest part, the food supply for the germ.
Germ The embryo, which can sprout into a new plant.
Brush A tuft of short hairs at the top end.
Crease A deep fold that runs along one side of the kernel.

The outer layers 3

Pericarp The fruit coat, which makes the outer layers of the bran.
Seed coat A thin coat under the pericarp, joined tightly to it.
Aleurone layer The endosperm's outermost layer. Millers count it as bran.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-10-01 and kept only where two of these use it. (1) Whole Grains Council, What's a Whole Grain?, https://wholegrainscouncil.org/what-whole-grain : the kernel is made up of three edible parts, the bran, the germ and the endosperm; the bran is the many-layered outer skin; the germ is the embryo, which can sprout into a new plant; the endosperm is the germ's food supply and by far the largest portion; refining usually strips the bran and the germ. (2) Wikipedia, Whole grain, Bran, Cereal germ, Aleurone and Caryopsis, text only, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_grain , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bran , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleurone and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caryopsis : a whole grain contains the endosperm, germ and bran, a refined grain only the endosperm; bran is the hard outer layers, aleurone and pericarp together; the aleurone layer is the endosperm's outermost layer; in a grain the thin seed coat is fused to the pericarp. (3) Cereal science texts, passages read through archive.org's full-text search: Wheat: Chemistry and Technology (1964 and 1971), https://archive.org/details/wheatchemistryte0000ihly (fruit coat or pericarp, seed coat, aleurone layer, starchy endosperm, the hairs that make up the brush, the crease); Cereal Science (1969), https://archive.org/details/cerealscience0000unse (brush, crease, germ end, outer pericarp, aleurone layer, starchy endosperm); Principles of Cereal Science and Technology (1986), https://archive.org/details/principlesofcere0000hose (pericarp, seed coat, aleurone, germ, endosperm). Licence: own work

The drawing: Own drawing from plain geometry; nothing traced. Not to scale. Licence: own work

How it works

To label a kernel of wheat, write a name on the line for each number. Five numbers are on the kernel, cut lengthwise and across. Three are on a piece of its edge, drawn much larger.

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Grain kernel word bank

In alphabetical order, to copy onto the board: aleurone layer, bran, brush, crease, endosperm, germ, pericarp, seed coat.

The numbers that get swapped

Bran (1) is the whole outer skin of the kernel. The pericarp (6) is one layer of that skin, the wavy band at the top of the enlarged piece, and the seed coat (7) is the thin plain band under it. The aleurone layer (8) is the single row of blocky cells; the large cells below it are endosperm (2) again. The brush (4) is at the top end and the germ (3) at the base. The crease (5) is on the kernel cut across.

For a first lesson, set Start from to The kernel: the sheet then has five names.

Questions and answers

Is a wheat kernel a seed or a fruit?

Both words are used. To a botanist a grain is a caryopsis, a dry fruit whose fruit coat is fused with the thin coat of the seed inside it. The sheet shows both coats: the pericarp and the seed coat under it.

What is the difference between bran and pericarp?

Bran is the miller's name for the hard outer layers taken together, the pericarp and the aleurone layer among them. The pericarp is the fruit coat, the outermost of those layers.

Do rice and corn kernels have the same parts as wheat?

The three main ones, yes. The kernel of any grain has bran, an endosperm and a germ. The brush and the crease on this sheet are drawn from wheat.

What is the husk of a grain?

An inedible cover that protects the kernel from sunlight, pests, water and disease. It is not one of the kernel's parts, so it is not drawn and has no number.