Weekly Online Lesson Online Lesson Archive Grade Level: 4-8 Subject: Botany

Flowering Plants

Scientists at the University of Florida have been studying the newly discovered fossil of the oldest, most complete flowering plant ever found. The underwater plant, which is of a species never before seen, has the same characteristics as the most primitive of flowering plants. The plant lived in a Chinese lake 125 million years ago.

Unlike flowering plants today, it had no flashy petals, but it did have a seed enclosed in its immature fruit. The seeds of this plant probably dispersed in the water and floated up along the shore to germinate in shallow water.

Scientists think flowering plants later developed colored petals and fragrance and tasty fruits to help in reproduction. The showy, good-smelling flowers attract insects to help in pollination and animals eat the fleshy fruit of plants, which helps spread the seeds.

Learn more about the ancient flowering plant from the Florida Museum of Natural History.

With this new discovery, and millions of people now planting spring flowers around their homes and gardens, it's a good week to learn about flowering plants.

You Grow Girl

Start out by learning about the parts of a flower at the You Grow Girl site. Click Explore, and then click The Perfect Flower. Right away you'll hear a bee buzzing. That's your mouse pointer. Move the bee over different parts of the flower. When a yellow label appears, click and read about that part. What is the pistil? What are the stamen? You can learn more about the parts by clicking the yellow words on the right (under Related Glossary Entries).

At the lower right you will see links for two related articles. First click and read Seed Harvesting, which teaches basic information about collecting your own flowering plant seeds. What is the difference between a self-pollinator and a cross-pollinator? Click Continue Reading at the bottom to move on to the next page. What are hybrid seeds, and why is it you may not want to collect them? Why should you let seed pods dry before removing the seeds?

Return to The Perfect Flower and click Seed Starting. Read the three pages of this article (move from page to page using the number links at the top and bottom). What does a germination inhibitor do? What is the seed coat and what does it do? What two things does water do to a seed? Why should small seeds be planted near the surface? Why is light important?

The Great Plant Escape

At the The Great Plant Escape site, you will help Detective LePlant solve a plant mystery by finding clues, doing experiments, and solving problems. Read the introduction, and then click #1 In Search of Green Life to begin your investigation. First read the Introduction to the Case. Learn the goals and ideas of this case, and then click the Continue arrow at the bottom to move on to the facts of the case. When you get to Plant Parts, you should recognize some of the terms you learned previously. After you have read all the facts, Move on to Mystery #1, a quiz that will check your understanding of the facts so far and show you the correct answers if you mess up.

After you finish this case, go back to The Great Plant Escape and move on to the next one. If you don't have time to investigate all of the cases now, at least do #4 Plantenstein is the Suspect. This case is about flowering and nonflowering plants, so it relates directly to this lesson. What is the difference between perfect and imperfect flowers? How would you define pollination? What are some of the ways nonflowering plants reproduce?

Wildflowers

Now that you've learned about the different parts of a flowering plant, it's time to look at photos of a few. Flowers come in every color and shape imaginable, and many of the most beautiful flowers in nature grow wild. For this activity you need to visit two sites. First go to Wildseed Farms and click Wildflower Mixes on the right. Find the color that matches the region where you live (if you live in the United States), or choose any region you want to learn about. You can click right on the map. On the lower half of the next page you will see a list of wildflowers that grow well in your area. Print the page or write down the common names of the flowers.

Now go to the Wildflowers in Bloom Photo Album at Texas A&M University. Find each of your flowers in the list on this page. Click the flower name to see a photo and read about the flower. For example, click California Poppy to see and learn about this beautiful flower native to California and the southwestern United States. Click the photo for a better look.

See and learn about all of the wildflowers on your list. If you planted all of these seeds in a garden, how many colors of flowers would you eventually see?

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