How do plants reproduce?

Plants, just like humans and animals have to reproduce (have babies) in order to grow new plants and let the plant continue to live on.  If plants do not reproduce, there will be none left.

Most plants reproduces sexually, which means there if a male and a female part that combines and fertilization takes place and then a seed is formed from which a new plant will grow.

Some plants can produce asexually, which means you can break off a piece of the leave or stem or root and just plant it and a new plant will grow from that piece.

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Today we will be looking at how flowering plants reproduce.  

In the flower you will find the male parts and also the female parts.  Some plants will pollinate themselves, which means the pollen from the male part will fall on the female part, but most plants do cross-pollination, so the pollen from the one flower is carried to another flower by insects like bees and butterflies or by the wind.

To understand how pollination takes place, we will have to look at the different parts of a flower.

       

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The 'anther' and the 'filament' is called the 'Stamen' and is the male part of the flower and the 'stigma, style and ovary' is called the 'Pistil' and make up the female part.

An insect comes and sit on the anther that has pollen on it and the pollen gets stuck to its body.  When the insect goes and sits on the other flower, the pollen will fall onto the stigma.  The pollen will start growing down the style until it reaches the ovary.  

                                                             

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Inside the ovary the 'egg cells' form and the pollen and the egg cell will become one and now fertilization has taken place and seeds will form that will be released from the flower in different ways and land in the soil and if the conditions are right with enough sunlight and water, a new plant will grow.

• Do some research and find the function of the following parts of the plant

1. pedicel
2. sepal
3. petal

• Find ways in which a plant will release and disperse its seed - you can also read more on this link https://www.kidsdiscover.com/parentresources/seed-dispersal/
• read more on the pars of a flower and complete the quiz on https://www.dkfindout.com/us/animals-and-nature/plants/parts-flower/
• watch the video on how pollination takes place in a flowering plant and try and explain it in your own words

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The flowers are colourful and produces nectar - a sweet juice that insects eat or the bees use it to make honey - and this attracts the bees and the butterflies.  These insects are called 'pollinators' because they help with the pollination of the flowers.  

This is a very good reason why we need to protect our honey bees.  Without pollinators, some plants will not be able to reproduce and they will become extinct.  (There will be none of them left.)

• For interest sake find some reading material or videos that you can watch to learn how insect help with pollination and how bees make honey from the nectar of the flowers.

The wind is also a pollinator, but plants that are pollinated by the wind will look a bit different than the flowering plants that have bright colors and nectar to attract insects.

These plants will be green or brown, because they do not need to attract any insects and the pollen is also very light to be easily carried by the wind from one place to another.  They do not have any scent or nectar.

When a seed is formed it has a very small plant called an 'embryo' on the inside and the seed also contains stored food for the embryo to feed on until it can start making its own food.  (photosynthesize).

Every plant and flower and seed has been created in a special way and each one has a function. It is our responsibility to look after the plants and the pollinators, because plants do not only provide us with oxygen, but also with food.

For enrichment

• Grow your own bean seed by putting it between cotton wool and watering it every day and give it enough sunlight.  Watch it every day to see how the seed bursts open and the embryo comes out ('germination').  You can plant the 'germinated seed' in a put or in your garden and watch it grow.

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• Make sure you understand the work and answer the following in your own words.

1. Which parts make up the female part of the flower?
2. Which parts make up the male part of the flower?
3. What is pollination?
4. What do we call it if the embryo comes out of the seed?
5. Name 3 types of pollinators.