Plants and their parts
Biology · Key Stage 2 · The School
Four parts, four jobs
A flowering plant has ROOTS that hold it steady and take in water and minerals from the soil; a STEM that holds the plant up and carries water to where it is needed; LEAVES that catch light and make the plant’s food; and a FLOWER whose job is to make seeds. Every part earns its place — remove any one and the plant is in trouble.
Watching water move
Water goes up, against gravity, through tiny tubes in the stem. You can see it happen: stand a stick of celery or a white flower in water coloured with food dye and leave it overnight. The dye rises and shows up in the veins and petals. Cut the stem across afterwards and the coloured tubes are visible as dots.
From flower to new plant
Pollen must move from one flower to another — POLLINATION — usually carried by insects drawn in by colour, scent and nectar, or blown by wind. Once pollen reaches the right place a SEED forms. The seed then has to get away from the parent plant, so it is DISPERSED: carried by wind, hooked onto fur, eaten and passed through an animal, or fired out as the pod dries.
Take a whole flowering plant out of its pot and lay it on paper. ROOTS: anchor it and take in water — see how far they spread. STEM: holds it up and carries water — snap one and you can see the tubes. LEAVES: catch light and make food — note how they are angled so none shades another. FLOWER: makes seeds. SEEDS: start the next plant. Five parts, five jobs, all visible at once.