A Little Bit About Plants

Todays Lessons

• Differences in Plants• Gymnosperms• Angiosperms• Flowers• Looking closer at flowers…

Differences in Plants

• A living organism is normally classified as a plant if it produces it’s own food.

• This food is normally created by photosynthesis, in which Carbon Dioxide, Water and Sunlight makes Oxygen and Glucose (sugar).

• However, plants reproduce in different ways!!

Gymnosperms• One of the main types of plants are called

Gymnosperms.• They reproduce by producing cones (like

pine cones).• The cones give off spores from the male pine

cone. The spores are also known as pollen (or sperm)

• The breeze or wind then carries the spores to the female pine cone.

• Now the spores can fertilize the ovule or egg. It’s not called a seed until it’s fertilized.

Male pine cone

Female pine cone

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio106/gymnospr.htm

Angiosperms

• Angiosperms reproduce through flowers.• Unlike Gymnosperms which have separate

male and female cones, flowers contain both the male and female reproductive systems.

• The male reproductive system is called the Stamen which contains pollen (or sperm).

• The female reproductive system is called the Pistil and includes the ovule (or egg)

Flowers

• The pollen (or sperm) of a flower will travel down the Stigma and Style to pollenate the ovule or egg.

• Once the egg is fertilized, it will become a seed.

• Some seeds will also grow in fruit so that animals will eat the fruit and disperse or move the seed away from the plant.

More on Flowers

• To stop the same flower from pollenating themselves, there are some things the different plants do. For example,– The pollen and ovule or egg

may be ready at different times

– Some ovules or eggs will not accept pollen from the same plant.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/powi/3856704220/

A Closer Look At Flowers

• Here are some interesting but important facts about flowers:– All fruits and nuts come from flowers.– Flowers are often bright or have a specific smell to

attract animals or insects to take their pollen for fertilization.

– Many flowers will specialize which means that only one type of insect or animal can pollenate the flower.

Questions

• Answer the following questions below in your book in sentences. Remember to include the questions.

1. What is an Angiosperm and Gymnosperm? Give 2 examples of each.

2. Briefly describe how Gymnosperms produce seeds. Include a diagram to help explain how it occurs.

Continued

1. Briefly describe how Angiosperms produce seeds. Include a diagram to help explain how it occurs.

2. How does the pollen from an Angiosperm get to the egg?

3. Name at least 5 ways pollen can get from the stamen to the ovule (egg).

4. EXT: Research what role pollenating flowers has in the fruit industry. What would happen if the flowers were not pollenated?