Every part of a flowering plant has a job. Roots take in water and nutrients, the stem carries water up to the leaves, leaves make food using sunlight, and flowers make seeds with help from pollinating insects.
What your child will learn
- Describe the jobs of roots, stems, leaves and flowers
- Know what plants need to grow well
- Explain how water travels through a plant
- Describe pollination and how seeds are spread
From flower to seed
Bright petals and sweet nectar attract insects like bees. As a bee feeds, pollen sticks to it and is carried to the next flower. This is pollination. A pollinated flower can make seeds, often inside a fruit.
Seeds are spread in clever ways — blown by the wind, carried by animals, floating on water or flung out when a pod bursts — so new plants have space to grow.
Example questions
Here are a few questions like the ones in the first quest. Can you solve them?
1. Why are many flowers brightly coloured?
- To scare birds
- To keep warm
- To hide from rain
- To attract insects
Show answer
Answer: To attract insects. Bright colours help insects find the flower.
2. What job does the stem do?
- Make seeds
- Store honey
- Catch insects
- Carry water up and hold the plant up
Show answer
Answer: Carry water up and hold the plant up. The stem is like a straw and a support.
3. What do plants need to grow well?
- Air, light, water, nutrients and room to grow
- Only light
- Only soil
- Only water
Show answer
Answer: Air, light, water, nutrients and room to grow. Plants need all of these to be healthy.
Tips for grown-ups
- Stand a white carnation or celery stick in coloured water and watch the colour travel up.
- Watch bees visiting flowers and look for pollen on their legs.
- Collect seeds on a walk and guess how each one is spread.