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2. Flowers and seeds
Looking at Flowers
Colour these
different
flower shapes
s t _ _ _ _
W4
p _ _ _ _
s _ _ _ _
Use these words:
sepal
petal
stamen
draw a picture of your
favourite flower
cut and paste
Pollen is made
here. It is needed
to make seeds.
Bright colours attract
insects. Insects carry
pollen to other plants.
Sepals
protect the petals
before the
flower opens.
Flower Investigation
W5
In the classroom, make a prediction linking flower shape with flower colour.
Then carry out a survey to test your prediction and record your results
in the table below.
In the ‘My prediction’ column below, write what you think the colour of the flower will be e.g.
flowers with 4 petals will be yellow, and so on.
Then look at the different flowers, count the petals, and tick below what colour the flower is.
SHAPE
My
prediction
COLOUR
Yellow
Pink
White
Blue
Red
Other
4 petals
5 petals
bell
daisy
pea
umbrella
Do your results support your prediction?
Do you think the shape or colour of a flower makes a difference to what sort
of insects visit the flowers?
Flower Service Station W6
Date:
Weather:
Find a flower, or a group of flowers
of the same species (type).
Draw your flower in the box on the
right and find out its name.
Sit quietly for 10 minutes watching
for insects and other minibeasts.
How many seconds does each visitor
stay?
What is each visitor doing?
Is it feeding, collecting nectar,
or just resting?
Write your observations in the chart
below.
Minibeast
(name, sketch or description)
Name of flower:
What was it doing?
How long did it stay?
W6 Continued
Answer these questions before leaving your flower .
1. How many minibeasts visited your flowers?
bees
flies
butterflies/moths
spiders
caterpillars
beetles (inc. ladybirds)
others
2. What creature visited most?
3. What colour is your flower?
4. How tall is your plant? _________ cm
TOTAL =
Seeds and seed dispersal
W7
Using the information sheet I1, tick any seeds you can find, and
draw a line to connect them with their method of dispersal.
Method of dispersal
Blown by the wind
look for parachutes or wings
seed
Carried away by
passing animals
look for hooks and barbs
Catapulted out by
the plant
look for pea-shaped seeds
Collected and stored
or buried by animals
look for nut-like seeds
Eaten by animals and
spread via their droppings
look for juicy fruits
Going to seed
W8
Where do seeds come from?
Colour this ‘inside a flower’ picture. Cut around the shape and fold
it along the dotted line. Colour the back to make it look like flower
petals. Now you have a flower that opens to show the seeds inside.
Flower identification ID3
sheet
Use this sheet to help you identify flowers that you may find during your visit
bluebell
daisy
vetch
dandelion
cow parsley
violet
poppy
herb robert
buttercup
wood
anemone
black
knapweed
yellow
archangel
medick
foxglove
primrose
rosebay
willowherb
I1
Seeds and dispersal
Most plants produce large numbers of seeds to ensure that at least
some land in an area suitable for germination and to allow for the fact
that many will also succumb to disease, be eaten or trampled. In most
cases relatively few will get to the stage of producing seeds themselves.
Dispersal
• Seeds are contained in fruits and it is the type of fruit that largely determines the
dispersal method. The fruit may take various forms including berries, pods and nuts.
• Berries have a juicy flesh to tempt animals to eat them. The seed passes through the
animal unharmed.
• Nuts may be eaten or buried by squirrels and small mammals. Some of these buried nuts
are never retrieved by the owners and so get to germinate!
• Winged fruits take advantage of air currents to carry them away from the parent plant.
• Those with hooks manage to attach themselves to the fur of animals.
• Plants such as broom have pods that ‘explode’ once ripe, shooting the seeds some
distance, while poppies ‘shake’ their seeds out while swaying in the wind.
Nuts: collected and stored or buried by
animals, e.g. hazel, beech, chestnut, oak
Berries: eaten by animals and spread via
droppings, e.g. ivy, hawthorn, bramble
Some examples of methods of seed dispersal
Seeds in a pod which are catapulted
out: e.g. broom, vetch species
Seeds that use air currents:
e.g. parachutes - willowherb,
old man’s beard, dandelion, willow
wings - sycamore, ash, field maple
Seeds with hooks and
barbs that cling to
passing animals: e.g.
cleavers, herb bennet
seed
I2
Pollination
The illustration below shows a generalised flower with the
reproductive parts exposed
Petals
The male part of the flower. Pollen is
made inside the anther at the end
of the filament. In wind pollinated
plants the filaments are long to allow
the wind to blow the pollen away.
}
Insect pollinated flowers have
bright colours to attract insects.
The pollen then sticks to the
insects.
Stamen
anther
style
{
stigma
filament
Nectary
Found in insectpollinated plants.
The nectary produces
the sweet nectar made
specifically to attract
insects.
Carpal
The female part of the
flower. Pollen lands on the
stigma via insects or wind.
From here the pollen grain
grows a fine tube down
through the style to the
ovary where it meets the
ovule (egg).
Ovary
Here the pollen fertilises the
ovule creating a viable seed.
The seeds are then dispersed
for germination into new plants.
Flower Frieze
F13
Flowers are beautiful to look at
close up. Flowers are also
beautiful when there are lots
together. You can use this
sheet to make a frieze ( a long
strip ) of flowers.
1. Don’t cut along the dotted
lines !
2. Cut along the thick lines
down the middle of the
page and at the ends of
the frieze.
3. Fold along the dotted
lines in a zig-zag with the
flower at the top.
4. Now cut around your
flower very carefully –
don’t cut round the
petals, leaves or grass
where the folds are.
5. Finish by colouring the
flowers