Life Cycle of a Plant KS2

Life Cycle of a Plant KS2 Lesson Packs and FreeBees:

What is the purpose of a flower in the life cycle of a plant?

The flower is the reproductive part of the plant. In a flower, pollen grains and egg cells combine and grow into seeds. This process is called pollination.

Flowers contain both male and female reproductive parts:

• The male part of the flower (the anther and filament) is called the stamen.
• The female part of the flower (the stigma, style and ovary) is called the carpel.

The parts of a flower

How do plants reproduce sexually?

Flowering plants reproduce sexually by a process called pollination. Insects, attracted by the flower's petals, land on the flower and drink its nectar. Pollen from the anthers sticks to the insect's body. Most flowering plants rely on insects to carry out pollination, but the pollen grains of some plants are carried by the wind, water or other animals. Many flowering plants can even pollinate themselves!

When the insect lands on another flower, the pollen grains on its body stick to the stigma. The pollen grains are the male sex cells. They contain genetic information.

Pollen tubes grow down the style to the ovary. The genetic information from the pollen combines with a female egg cell. This is called fertilisation. A seed starts to grow...

As the seed grows, the ovary swells and the petals drop off the flower. The ovary becomes a fruit with the seeds inside.

The fruit then either falls to the ground or is eaten by animals. The seeds can then either be scattered by animals or the wind. This process is known as seed dispersal.

Some of these seeds then get buried in the soil so that new plants can grow. The process by which a plant begins to grow from a seed is called germination.  

The life cycle of a lemon tree

How do plants reproduce asexually?

Some plants can reproduce aseually by themselves, meaning that only one parent plant is needed. It can produce a new plant all by itself.

Some plants, such as crocuses and potatoes, grow stores of food under the ground called bulbs and tubers. These types of plant reproduce asexually by growing new plants off their bulbs and tubers.

How do plants reproduce asexually?

Some plants can reproduce aseually by themselves, meaning that only one parent plant is needed. It can produce a new plant all by itself.

Some plants, such as crocuses and potatoes, grow stores of food under the ground called bulbs and tubers. These types of plant reproduce asexually by growing new plants off their bulbs and tubers.

A potato plant can reproduce asexually

Other plants reproduce asexually by producing side branches or shoots (called runners) carrying new ‘plantlets’ on the ends. These runners grow away from the plant; the new plantlet grows into the soil.

A strawberry plant reproduces asexually by producing runners that grow away from the plant

When plants reproduce asexually, the children plants are genetically identical to the parent. They are clones of the parent plant.