The FOSS general policy is that we do not include money, living organisms, or food in the kits. Each of these commodities presents a potential nuisance greater than the inconvenience of having to get the items yourself. In a handful of places in the FOSS program, we bend this general policy. Most notably we include seeds in four of the life science modules and the Solids and Liquids Module .
Seeds energize the food chain.
A FOSS module can create even more than the usual amount of student excitement if a family of mice springs out when the kit is opened in the classroom. And often the enthusiasm with which such an event is received by the students is not reflected on the face of the teacher. It is a wonderful moment to be avoided. More often the interlopers will be clandestine. Insects may invade the seeds.