Download Plant Life Cycle Notes

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Science Notes—How Plants Reproduce
1. Many plants reproduce using seeds.
2. Seeds are found inside the fruit produced by the plant.
3. A seed needs the right conditions to begin growing.
4.
When the seed has the right amounts of oxygen, water and the right
temperature, it sprouts. This process is called germination.
5. Seedling- a young plant that continues to grow from a seed. A plant is
a seedling until it can form flowers, fruit, and seeds.
6. During the adult phase of the plant, bees and other insects pollinate
by carry pollen from one plant to other. This process is called
pollination.
7. Once pollen from one flower is brought to another flower, a fruit
begins to form. Seeds grow inside of the fruit.
8. When an animal eats the fruit, the seeds pass through the animal’s
body and are released. These seeds will allow new plants to grow
(germination) and the life cycle will repeat.
9. Inherited Traits-characteristics passed down from parents to
offspring (children). All plants growing from a seed will look exactly
like their parent.
10. Life Cycle-shows the stages of growth and change in a certain type
of organism.
Part 2. Other Ways that Plants Reproduce
11. Some plants (like ferns) grow from spores instead of seeds. A spore is
much smaller and simpler than a seed.
12. Spores are very hardy. They can stay dormant (inactive) in dry
conditions for many years. Just like a seed, when the conditions are
right, a spore grows into a new plant. In order to grow, a spore must
land on wet ground. Once it germinates (grows), it needs almost
constant moisture.
13. Not all plants grow from seeds or spores. Some plants grow from
stems, roots, or leaves that have been cut from a plant. This is called
a cutting. Plants that grow this way are usually identical to the
parent plant.
14. A bulb is a stem that grows underground. (Tulips grow from bulbs.)
15. Tuber- a storage part of a plant. (Example: potato) If you plant a
potato by itself, more potatoes will grow.
16. Runners- a stem that grows along the ground and can make new
plants.