Lesson 54: Plant Reproduction and Seeds
Flowers contain structures involved in pollination, fertilization, and seed formation. The lesson follows the development of seeds and fruits, considers seed dispersal, and looks at how some plants reproduce by cloning.
Key Ideas
- Flowers have parts that help plants make seeds. Anthers make pollen, and egg cells are inside structures called ovules.
- Pollination moves pollen to a flower’s stigma. A pollen tube can then carry sperm to an egg inside an ovule.
- After fertilization, the ovule becomes a seed, and the ovary develops into fruit.
- Fruits protect seeds and can help them travel. Animals, wind, and water can carry seeds to new places.
- Some plants can also make new plants without seeds, by cloning. Clones are identical to the parent, while seeds bring variation.
Vocabulary
- Pollen: Tiny grains made in a flower’s anthers. They carry the cells that help fertilize an egg.
- Pollination: The movement of pollen from an anther to a flower’s stigma.
- Ovary: The part of a flower that holds the ovules and develops into fruit.
- Fruit: The part of a flowering plant that develops from the ovary and usually holds seeds.
- Seed: What a fertilized ovule becomes. It holds a tiny new plant.
- Cloning: Making a new plant that is an exact genetic copy of its parent.
Discussion Questions
- A tomato can be a botanical fruit and a culinary vegetable. Explain both uses. Which parts of a pea pod and walnut are fruit, and which are seeds?
- If insects vanished from an area, which plants would be in trouble first, and which might manage? Explain using pollination and cloning.
- If all the trees in an orchard are very similar, how might one disease affect them? Why could growing different varieties help?
Supplies
- One large simple flower (a lily or tulip is ideal), white paper, a magnifier, and a small knife with an adult