Background

When the pollen (depending on the plant, some can come from the same plant or other plants need to have pollen from a different plant but same species) enters the pistil, it can fertilize an egg. It will develop in the ovary and become a fruit and seed.

Structure of a flower: part of the plant that contains the reproductive organs.
Stigma: part of the pistil that receives the pollen.
Style: central part of the pistil.
Ovary: lower part of the pistil that produces eggs.
Pistil: the set of female parts of a flower; includes the ovary, style, and stigma.
Receptacle: part of the flower to which the other parts are attached.
Pedicel: the stalk supporting the flower.
Sepal: each parts of the calyx of a flower.
Petal: each parts of the corolla of a flower.
Filament: male reproductive organ of a flower.
Anther: part of the stamen that produces the pollen.

 

Vocabulary

Pollen: A powdery substance which is the covering of the male gametes (sperm cells) of seed plants.
Pollinator: Any small animal, usually an insect that helps spread the pollen from one plant to another.
Pollination: When a plant has received pollen from another plant (of the same species) and is fertilized.
Adaptations: The process in which an organism becomes better suited for its environment.

 

Attention Grabber

Show students different pictures of fruit trees. Share a piece of cut up fruit with the students. Why are these fruit trees helpful? They provide food for us. Just us? No, birds and other animals like to eat the fruits too. Do we use plants for anything else? Create a word and picture wall showing the uses of plants. Do we just use plants or do we (people and animals) help plants as well? Have students do a “Think-Pair-Share” for this question. In these next few activities, we are going to explore the relationship between plants and animals.

 

Garden Activity

Part 1-Animals helping Flowers

•    Show students the different pictures of pollinators and discuss that these animals help flowers by spreading the pollen from one flower to another. We call this process “Pollination”.
•    Have flowers in the garden that attract pollinators. If you plan in advance, you can have the students plant the flowers.  Flowering plants that are lower to the ground are easier for students to observe.
•    Using a hand lens, have students observe the process of pollination. They can learn about the proboscis and watch the insects using this special tool to eat the pollen.  Be sure to point out that the pollen goes on the insects’ body and spreads it from flower to flower. 

Part 2- Pollination Process
 

•    Using a pictorial, show what’s happening to the flower during pollination.
•    Using a hand lens, have students carefully examine a lily flower.
•    Explain the parts of the flower and their purpose.  Make sure to include the pollen!  Students can touch the anther to get the pollen on their fingers – just like they are a pollinator!
•    Have students fill out a flower pictorial of their own.
•    Review how animals help plants.

Part 3- Seed Dispersal
 

•    Show students some different seeds that are in a jar. Great examples include the maple seed wing, weed burs, dandelion gone to seed.
•    Have students work in groups and come up with a theory about how these seeds travel. Have students present to the class their theories and record them on a board.
•    Reveal the different methods in which animals help seeds travel. Have students come up with a creative way to demonstrate the different ways.

 

Wrap Up & Assessment

•    Review some examples of pollinators that you observed? What did those pollinators do? What happens when a plant is pollinated? (The fruits will grow with seeds inside) What is the purpose of a flower? The purpose of a flower is to attract pollinators.
•    Add to the list ways that animals help plants and ways that plants help animals.
•    Have the students write a “Windspark” and recite their poem to their classmates. (The directions for a windspark are included in the appendix).

 

What’s Next?

•    Plant some strawberry plants in the garden and have students observe the process of “from flower to fruit”. The students can draw what they observe over the course of the fruit ripening on a piece of paper.

•    Play Pollination Tag
o    In order to play Pollen Tag, the students must create the props. 
o    Begin by asking the students to share their favorite fruit.  Ask them to draw their favorite fruit on one side of a piece of paper.  One the other side, each student draws a flower with a large center (picture included). 
o    Put a layer of double-adhesive tape over the center of the flower.  The students are given cotton balls to put on their flower center.  This is the pollen of the flower! (Students can color their cotton balls differently to distinguish their “pollen” from others)
o    Use these props to play a game of pollen tag!  The rules of the game:
1.    Give safety guidelines so that students do not get hurt.
2.    3 students are chosen as pollinators (bees, butterflies, and houseflies are good examples- these cut out are provided)
3.    The pollinators go around and tag the “flowers” (other students)
4.    When a “flower” gets tagged, they need to give the “bee” some pollen. 
5.    If the bee already has pollen, they give it to the flower. 
6.    Once the flower has all new pollen, he/she turns into a fruit by flipping their paper over.  This is because it received pollen from another flower.
7.    These fruits go to the side and rest on a knee. 
o    The game can end when most students are fruits.

 

Download Materials

Student Worksheets

Pollination Power

Windspark Template

Windspark