Download 1 Plant Characteristics Booklet Student Name

Plant Characteristics Booklet
Student Name __________________________
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When scientists find an unknown plant, they first look and see if it has a vascular system. This helps
them classify the plant.
After looking for a vascular system, scientists look to see if the plant reproduces by spores or seeds.
Vascular or
Non-vascular?
Reproduce
with spores or
seeds?
Characteristics of plants that make
spores:
 Smaller than seed-producing
plants
 Usually have no flowers
 Reproduce with spores
Examples include mosses and ferns!!
Characteristics of plants that make
seeds:
 Plants make flowers because seeds
grow inside of flower
 Flower will turn into a fruit, which
encloses the completely grown
seeds
Examples include trees, shrubs, flowers,
fruits, vegetables
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Examples include mosses and ferns!!
Scavenger Hunt! Find an example of a plant that reproduces with spores and glue it in the box below. Find
an example of a plant that reproduces with seeds and glue it in the box below.
PLANT WITH SPORES
PLANT WITH SEEDS
What are the characteristics of spore-bearing plants?
1.
2.
3.
What are the characteristics of seed-bearing plants?
1.
2.
******Plant Riddles ******** *
I am a plant with beautiful white flowers. Tucked inside my flowers
are tiny reproductive structures. Are these structures seeds or spores?
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I am a Boston fern. Do I reproduce with seeds or spores?
I am a rose bush. Do I reproduce with seeds or spores?
I am a lovely green plant. I have reproductive structures on the
undersides of my fronds. Sadly, I do not have any flowering
structures. Will I reproduce with seeds or spores?

We have already talked about the first two ways that plants are classified:
Vascular or
Non-vascular?
Reproduce
with spores or
seeds?
Third way scientists
classify plants is by asking
if seeds are made in cones
or flowers
Seeds are made
in cones or
flowers?
Characteristics of cone plants
 Sometimes they’re called conifers or
evergreens
 Have needle-like leaves
 Never have flowers
 Produce the seeds in cones
 Some cones are female, some are male
Examples include pine trees, spruce, redwoods,
junipers, and cedar trees
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Match it up!
Match up the plant with its characteristics. Draw a line from the plant to the correct characteristics.
Has seeds created in flowers
Produces seeds in cones;
sometimes called a conifer
Reproduces with spores
What are the characteristics of cone plants?
Vascular or
Non-vascular?
Reproduce
with spores or
seeds?
Seeds are made
in cones or
flowers?
Fourth way scientists
classify plants is by
opening the seed and
counting the “seed leaves”
Number of
seed leaves (1
or 2)?
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Seed Leaves
The seed leaves are located inside of the seeds. They’re not leaves at all! These seed leaves have another
name as well. Sometimes they’re called cotyledons. The purpose of the seed leaf (cotyledon) is to provide
nourishment for the baby plant. It is the stored food for that growing baby plant. A baby plant is called the
embryo.
Why do you think they’re called seed leaves if they’re not really leaves? There’s no right or wrong answer.
What do you think?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_________________
If a plant has one seed leaf or cotyledon, then it’s called a monocot. Mono = one, cot = short for cotyledon
If a plant has two seed leaves or cotyledons, then it’s called a dicot. Di = 2, cot = short for cotyledon
Parts of a seed:
 Seed coat
 Cotyledon or
seed leaf
 Embryo
Notice how the stored food is pointing to the same area as the cotyledon. That’s because they are the same
thing!
SEED COAT 
Protective covering for embryo and the food; keeps seed from drying out &
protects embryo
COTYLEDON 
Also called seed leaf; provides food for growing embryo
EMBRYO 
Baby plant
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Hey, what’s the deal with these monocots, anyway?
A monocot has one seed leaf. It has one piece of stored food for its little embryo. All monocots share
the same characteristics. Check it out! Increase your plant-itude!
Hey, what’s the deal with these dicots, anyway? Look at the illustration above. All dicots share the
same characteristics. Look above at these characteristics! Wow!
Is it a monocot or a dicot? Write your answer next to the clue below.
Vascular tissue neatly bundled
Flower with 10 petals
Flower with 3 petals
Grass
Flower with 20 petals
Flower with 6 petals
Vascular tissue is scattered
Flower with 9 petals
Flower with 16 petals
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Seeds need to leave the parent plant so that they won’t compete
for water & sunlight with other plants. They leave the parent plant
in 3 main ways:
1.
Wind (winged seeds)
2.
Animals
3.
Water
Once a seed leaves the parent plant, it can either lay dormant OR germinate. If a seed lays
dormant, that means it will wait until growing conditions are just right for it to grow.
If a seed germinates, then it begins to grow. The roots grow down and stem & leaves grow
up. This is called the process of germination.
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Thorns for keeping animals from eating it
Poisons to keep animals from eating
Ability to close leaves when touched
(thigmotropism)
Sleeping Grass
Mimosa Puddica
Plant Processes
Photosynthesis
Process of a plant
making food (glucose) from radiant energy; uses carbon dioxide &
releases oxygen
Gas exchange
Take in carbon dioxide &
release oxygen through stomata
Respiration
Changing food into energy by
using oxygen
Transpiration
Loss of water vapor through the stomata on leaves
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Cross
section
of a leaf
Stomata (little doorways on leaf that open and close,
allowing water vapor & oxygen to escape). The stomata
open and close by means of the guard cells.
Chloroplasts
contain
chlorophyll
and carry on
photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is the process in which plants use energy from light to produce ____.
a. new cells
c. Food
b. organelles
d. none of the above
Respiration is the process in which organisms break down food to release ____.
a. energy
c. Sugar
b. nutrients
d. Oxygen
Transpiration is part of the water cycle, too! Remember?? It is when _______ ________ is lost
through leaves.
Leaves are the site of photosynthesis,
respiration, and transpiration.
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Stems hold up leaves to the sunlight so that food can be
produced. Stems give support to the plants. They can also store food!
Roots are used to anchor the plant and absorb water & nutrients from
the soil. The greater surface area of the root, the better it absorbs water
& nutrients.
Fibrous Roots
Tap Roots
Small structures called root hairs help increase that surface area on roots
to make absorption better!
Flowers are the reproductive part of the plant and have
female and male structures. In order for seeds to develop, the male
“pollen” must travel to the female parts of the flower. This is quite a feat
for an organism that can’t move!
Pollination is when the pollen successfully travels to the female part of
the flower and begins traveling through the flower to make the seed. It
can occur by insects, animals, wind – even you!
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Below are the parts of the flower:
Male
Female
Stamen = “men” – boy part of the flower where pollen is located
 anther
 filament
Pistil = girl part of the flower where pollen needs to go in order for a
seed to be made
 stigma
 style
 ovary
THE NEW SEED IS FORMED IN THE OVARY, AND THE OVARY
BECOMES THE FRUIT!
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Fill in the flower parts. Color the female parts pink & the boy parts should be colored blue.
Draw a stork by the ovary! 
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