Fill a container with water and place a pine cone in the water for about an hour. Remove the pine cone and observe any changes in the scales. The pine cone closes up to protect the seeds inside the cone. Set the pine cone in a sunny, warm spot for a few hours. As the pine cone dries, it begins to open up again allowing the seeds to disperse.
Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands. Mix a pound of salt in one container of water and a pound of borax in another container of water. Do not mix the salt and borax together. Place a few large pine cones in two separate cheesecloth bags. Dip each bag in one of the water mixtures and soak thoroughly. Drain the pine cones and spread them on newspaper to dry completely. Toss one into the fire in a fireplace or on a campfire. The salt mixture produces a yellow flame as the pine cone burns and the borax mixture produces a green flame.
Choose a few small and immature pine cones. Cover each end of a pine cone with a cloth or use gloves and twist the cone back and forth several times to loosen the scales. Pull out several scales near the tip of the cone and look for the two seeds on the inside of each scale. Observe how the seeds are attached to a paper-like wing on the inside of the scales. Count the number of seeds obtained from each cone and compare the numbers.
Observe what happens to a pine cone when it is heated using different heat sources. Place one pine cone in a pot of boiling water for approximately 10 minutes. Place another pine cone in a toaster oven for 10 minutes or until the scales begin to open. Put the third pine cone in a microwave-safe container and place in a microwave for two minutes. Remove the pine cones from each of the different heat sources and observe any changes in the appearance of each pine cone. Remove some seeds from each pine cone and note the differences among the seeds.
Use a balance scale to weigh 20 large pine cones individually and record their weights. Note any pine cones that weigh the same and the range of weights. Record the median weight measured by the number halfway between the heaviest and the lightest pine cone. Calculate the mean weight by dividing the total weight of all the pine cones by the number of cones weighed.