Reproduction
Biology · Key Stage 3 · The School
Flowering plants
A flower is a reproductive organ. POLLEN carries the male cells; the OVULE holds the female cell. Pollination moves pollen from anther to stigma — by insect, wind, water or bird. FERTILISATION happens when the two cells join. The ovule becomes a seed and the ovary becomes the fruit around it, which is why an apple has pips at its centre.
Getting away from the parent
A seed that lands under its parent competes with it for light and water, so plants disperse: wind (sycamore, dandelion), water (coconut), animal (burdock hooks, berries eaten and passed), and explosion (pea pods drying and splitting). Ask what a seed's shape is FOR and the dispersal method usually announces itself.
Life cycles and inheritance
Living things grow, reach maturity, may reproduce, and age. In humans this is described as infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and later life; adolescence is the period when the body becomes physically capable of reproduction, and schools and families differ in how and when the detail of this is taught. Offspring resemble their parents because they inherit genetic material from both, and differ because they inherit a mixture rather than a copy.
Each parent carries two copies of every gene and passes on ONE, chosen at random. With just three genes there are already eight possible combinations from each parent. Across thousands of genes the number of possible children is astronomically large, which is why siblings with the same two parents can look very different — and why a grandparent's trait can reappear after skipping a generation.