LEARNING ABOUT Grade 2 and up

PLANT LESSON PARTS OF PLANTS Science

Pollination: Flowers
stigma: sticky top part of pistil where the pollen from the
anthers must land in the seed-making process

See: PowerPoint Slideshow on POLLINATION to be used

with this lesson.

1 Purpose and Content of Lesson:

Angiosperms (flowering plants) are the largest, most success-
ful plant group on Earth. Angiosperms are also the youngest
plant group, evolving 125 million years ago.1 Almost all crop
plants are angiosperms.
What is the purpose of a flower? 2 Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS):
What is the flower’s special job? image 2 http://www.nextgenscience.org/search-standards
This lesson begins the exploration of how flowers make seeds Disciplinary Core Ideas
and develop fruit by focusing on pollination. LS1.A: Structure and Function
All organisms have external parts. Plants have different
Terms and definitions simplified for elementary students:
parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them
pollination: pollen grains on the anther of the stamen land on survive and grow. (Grades K-2)
the stigma of the pistil
Plants and animals have both internal and external
cross-pollination: when pollen is transferred to the stigma of structures that serve various functions in growth, survival,
another plant behavior, and reproduction. (Grades 3-5)
self-pollination: when pollen is transferred to the stigma of LS1.D: Information Processing
the same plant Plants respond to some external inputs. (Grades K-2)
pollen: microscopic grains formed on a part of the flower
called stamens that are needed to make a seed
pollinators: animals such as bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, bats,
3 Common misconceptions about stems:
and birds that move pollen from anthers to stigmas. Wind also Many children believe the function of flowers is to smell
helps pollinate flowers. nice and look beautiful. Even after instruction, it is hard for
stamen: male flower part that contains an anther with pollen them to think of flowers as being responsible for generating
seeds and fruit. Due to the complex vocabulary in the process
anther: part of the stamen that holds pollen of pollination and fertilization, younger students can learn
pistil: female flower part with a stigma on top and an ovary about pollination and pollinators with a lesser focus on the
where seeds are formed process of fertilization. Fertilization will be the topic of the
second lesson on flowers.

Developed by: Debra Zinicola, Ed.D., Seton Hall University, Chair, Department of Educational Studies, and
Marian Glenn, Ph.D., Seton Hall University, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
4 Lesson Objective: EXPLORE
Learners will explain how flowers are pollinated using the Key Questions — What is pollination and why is it import-
terms anther, stamen, pistil, stigma, and pollen and identify ant? Which flower parts are involved in pollination? How do
at least four types of pollinators on an exit slip. flowers get pollinated?

Students use 4-slide view of printed copies of PowerPoint

5 Lesson Procedure— presentation to create skits in groups of 3. They must depict
a concept about pollination and incorporate at least three
THE LEARNING CYCLE: The Five Es vocabulary words into each skit. Provide about ten minutes
for them to prepare their skits and write, on paper, what
ENGAGE concept they are enacting and which vocabulary words they
are incorporating. After each skit is presented, the class will
Review the function of other parts of plants that have been determine what vocabulary words and definitions apply and
learned — seeds, roots, and stems. Ask students what they summarize what they saw in each skit.
know about flowers and what they do for the plant. Clear up
misconceptions and explain that the flower’s special job is to
make seed(s). EXPAND
Project this introductory video showing the following polli- Flower observation:
nators: hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, and bats. (4 min.)
Have two or three different flowers for students to observe,
The Beauty of Pollination: http://video.disney.com/ draw, and label. If there is any student with a pollen allergy,
watch/the-beauty-of-pollination-wings-of-life- encase each bloom in a plastic bag that is puffed with air and
4da84833e06fd54fff590f49 rubber banded at the stem. Have one of each kind of flower
for each group. Daisies, lilies, tulips or whatever seasonal
Show the video at the beginning as an introduction, then varieties can be found will provide students with the
again at the end of the lesson so at different points it can be diversity of flower representations to observe key parts:
stopped for students to describe the process that is occurring petals, stamens, anthers, pistil, and stigma.
using the terms taught in this lesson. Tell them pollen grains
grow on stamens and need to get to another flower part called
the pistil so the flower can make fruit and seeds. If the pollen EVALUATE
does not get to the pistil, no fruit or seeds will be made.
Have all key vocabulary terms written on the board without
What will happen to a farmer’s tomato plants if the flowers definitions.
do not get pollinated?
On an exit slip, students will write:
Pollinators are extremely important; without them, we would
1) What is pollination? (using at least three vocabulary
not be able to grow plants as food. Honeybees are important
words from the lesson)
pollinators because they visit many flowers, depositing pollen
onto many pistils. 2) How does pollination happen in at least two different
ways?
3) Four pollinators
EXPLAIN
Show PowerPoint slideshow on Pollination. The content and
images explain what pollination is and how it happens. (In
the “notes” section of each slide are the web addresses of the
sources of the content and images.)

2
 6 Web Resources and Materials
1
Grades 6-8 Flower investigation, vocabulary, discussion
questions, full lesson plan: Discovery Education http://
www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-
plans/plant-pollination.cfm
Image2 http://pollinator.org/beeissues.htm
Flowers: How seeds are made (process, vocabulary)
Great Plant Escape http://extension.illinois.edu/gpe/
case4/c4brief.html
Pollination: Diagram, facts, video: Biology of Plants
http://www.mbgnet.net/bioplants/pollination.html
Flower Dissection: https://www.desertmuseum.org/cen-
ter/edu/docs/k-5_DesertGardeners_flowerDissection.
pdf
Pollinators images, video:
http://www.newtonsapple.org.uk/plant-pollinators/

Materials:
One per group:
• Tray to hold flowers
• Three or four different types of flowers on the tray for
students to observe, draw, and label

One for each student:

• Paper plate
• Printout of 4-slide view of PowerPoint presentation
• Hand lens
• Science journals

7 Appendices

PowerPoint slide show titled “POLLINATION”

3
How flowers make seeds and fruit
Part 1: Pollination

Debra Zinicola, Ed.D., Seton Hall University, Chair, Department of Educational Studies, and
DEVELOPED BY:
Marian Glenn, Ph.D., Seton Hall University, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences BY JUICE PLUS+
 What is Pollen?

Tiny pollen grains are formed on

a part of the flower called stamens
and are needed to make a seed.

BY JUICE PLUS+
 What is Pollination?

Pollination is the first

step in the seed making
process. In this step,
pollen is moved to
where it is needed.
Pollen grains on the
anther of the stamen
need to land on the
stigma of the pistil.

BY JUICE PLUS+
 What is Pollination?

When pollen is transferred to the stigma

of the same plant it is called self-pollination.
When pollen is transferred to the stigma of
a different plant it is called cross-pollination.
Usually plants rely on animals
or the wind to pollinate them.
Question:
How would indoor Tower Garden
flowers get pollinated?
BY JUICE PLUS+
 Pollination by Insects

Flowers pollinated by insects are colored and

scented. Why do you think that is so?
When pollinators suck up
nectar in the pistil, they brush
against the anthers and get
pollen on their bodies.
When they land on a flower,
the pollen rubs off their bodies
onto the stigma of the pistil.

BY JUICE PLUS+
 Pollination by Insects
Cross-pollination:

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Other Pollinators

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 Pollination by Wind

Wind-pollinated flowers usually have

small petals, dull colors and no scent.
Why do you think this is so?
Their anthers usually hang out of the
flowers so that the pollen grains can
be blown by the wind more easily and
have a higher chance of landing on a
distant, large, feathery stigma.
Why do the stigmas of wind-pollinated
flowers look this way?
BY JUICE PLUS+
 Artificial Pollination
In Tower Garden Cucumbers:
When plants are grown indoors without wind or
animal pollinators, the flowers need help to move pollen.
A person needs to transfer
the pollen from the anthers
onto the stigma of the
female flower.

BY JUICE PLUS+
 Artificial Pollination
In Tower Garden Cucumbers:
Cucumber plants produce
two kinds of flowers.
One kind of flower produces pollen
(male). The other kind has a pistil
and produces fruit and seeds (female).
Look behind the blossom to see
if there is a miniature cucumber.
If so, that is the flower with the
stigma and pistil.
BY JUICE PLUS+
 Artificial Pollination

In Tower Garden Cucumbers:

A cucumber flower being pollinated by hand.

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 Artificial Pollination

In Tower Garden Cucumbers:

1 Use a small Q-tip to collect pollen from several
anthers on the stamens of male flowers.
2 Brush pollen onto the stigmas of the flowers
with the miniature cucumbers.
3 Watch the size of the little cucumber for a week
after you pollinate the flower. What do you
think will happen?

BY JUICE PLUS+
 Artificial Pollination
In Tower Garden Cucumbers:

BY JUICE PLUS+
 Artificial Pollination
In Tower Garden Tomatoes:
Tomato flowers produce
both pollen and a pistil
on the same flower.
But the pollen is held in
a little cage, and without
pollinators, a person is
needed to help release it.

BY JUICE PLUS+
 Artificial Pollination
In Tower Garden Tomatoes:
So, to pollinate tomatoes,
just shake the plants … gently.
Where do you hope the pollen will land?
What will you be able to observe in the next
few weeks if you were successful?

BY JUICE PLUS+
 Artificial Pollination
In Tower Garden Tomatoes:

BY JUICE PLUS+
 Fertilization

What happens after pollination?

How fertilization takes place
pistil pollination
stigma

anther pollen
stamen
filament
style
pollen tube

ovule
embryo sac
egg cell
ovary

petal

sepal
vascular system
BY JUICE PLUS+
 Pollination: Terms and Definitions

• pollination–pollen grains on the anther of the stamen land on the stigma of the pistil
• cross-pollination–when pollen is transferred to the stigma of another plant
• self-pollination–when pollen is transferred to the stigma of the same plant
• pollen–microscopic grains that are needed to make seeds are formed on a
part of the flower called stamens
• pollinators–animals such as bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, bats, and birds that
move pollen from anthers to stigmas. Wind also helps pollinate flowers.
• stamen–male flower part that contains an anther with pollen
• anther–part of the stamen that holds pollen
• pistil–female flower part with a stigma on top and an ovary on bottom
where seeds are formed
• stigma–sticky top part of pistil where the pollen from the anthers
must land in the seed making process
BY JUICE PLUS+