Seeds and Plants for Kids Learn About the Structure and Characteristics of Seeds and Plants

hi I'm Kirsten welcome to real world science in this program we're going to explore the fascinating world of plants trees flowers fruits and much more let's begin what are plants plants grow just about everywhere you find them in gardens in parks they grow on mountainsides and around Lakes plants grow in water and underwater too plants are everywhere and that's good because people use plants every day for all kinds of things can you think of ways people use plants well we use plants for food all fruits and vegetables are food for people and animals trees are plants we use trees to get wood and make paper people use plants to make medicines too as you can see plants are very important part of our life botanists are scientists who study plants they have named and described over 300 000 different kinds of plants and they estimate that there are still many more kinds of plants they haven't discovered yet that's lot of plants plants do come in all shapes and sizes but they have some common features first is that most plants are green most plants are attached to the ground and all plants make their own food parts of the plant even though all plants look different they have similar parts the first part of the plant we're going to look at is called the root the root of the plant performs some very important functions Roots anchor the plant in the soil they draw water and minerals from the soil needed to make food in service places to store food if you take look at these plant roots you'll see little hair-like things they are actually called root hairs root hairs are important because they allow the plant to make more contact with the soil they give the plant the ability to increase the amount of water in nutrients it can take in osmosis is the passage of the nutrients from the soil to the root once the water and nutrients are taken in by the roots they are transported to the rest of the plant through the stem stem holds the buds branches leaves flowers and fruit of the plants in other words stems give the plant support and Stems come in variety of different forms for example tree trunk in shrubs have woody stem most of the kinds of flowers you know have upright stems like the stem of sunflower some stems are called climbing stems like you would find on vines some stems extend underneath the ground tubers are underground stems good example of tubers is the potato plant some stems run along the ground they're called runners these stems help to form new plants probably the most noticeable part of plant is its flower are typically bright and colorful and grow from bud on the stem the next part of plants we're going to discuss are the leaves there are two kinds of leaves Sun leaves are narrow and look like needles like those found on pine trees other leaves are flat and much wider all leaves have tubes running through them they're called xylem xylem are tubes that help carry water to the stem but the most important function of leaves is to make food for the plant leaves need water carbon dioxide and sunlight to make food process of making food is called photosynthesis photosynthesis takes place inside the leaves key ingredient in photosynthesis is chlorophyll chlorophyll captures energy from sunlight it also gives leaves its green color using the energy from the sunlight and mixing it with water in the carbon dioxide absorbed by the plant each Leaf manufactures food the plant needs to live including sugars starches and fats another byproduct of photosynthesis is oxygen animals and people need oxygen to breathe that's why without plants life on Earth would be impossible how plants reproduce plants have different parts that work together to make new plants the part that surrounds the flower as it grows is called the sepal the sepal has two jobs the first job is to protect the flower bud before it opens after the flower blooms the sepal supports the flower the colorful part of the flower that is most visible is the petal all the petals together are called the Corolla little stalks that stick up are called the stamen the stamen produces and holds little grains of golden dust called pollen pollen contains cells that are very important in the reproduction of flowering plants another important part that is needed for the plant's reproduction is called the pistol in order for flowering plants to reproduce or make new plants the pollen from the stamens must travel to the pistol when the pollen arrives and sticks to the pistol we call that process pollination sometimes plants need help in the pollination process getting the pollen from the stamen to the pistol one way is by insects the beautiful color pretty smell and sweet nectar from the flowers attracts insects to the flower pollen from the flower stamen is picked up by hairs on the insect's body when the insect flies to another flower some of the pollen rubs off from the insect another way pollination occurs is by wind lots of times the pollen grains are tiny in light and the wind can easily carry them from the stamens to the pistols some birds also help in the pollination process once the pollen grains stick to the pistol pollen tube begins to form the pollen tube extends down to the ovary the lower most part of the pistil in the ovary we find the ovules the ovules develop into seeds after fertilization the Petals of the flower dry out and fall off they're not needed anymore and then the ovary transforms into fruit surrounds and protects seeds the next time you eat certain fruit or vegetables you can check out the seeds inside the seed contains the young plant that allows the plant to reproduce did you know that some plants don't have flowers at all they form seeds inside cones pine trees and fir trees are two kinds of plants that have cones instead of flowers at first cones are shut tight until the seeds have developed then the cones open allowing the seeds to fall to the ground so they can begin to grow seeds seeds come in all shapes colors and sizes the size of seed really has nothing to do with how big the plant will grow to for example giant redwoods the tallest plants on Earth come from Tiny Seed only 1 16 of an inch long no matter the size or shape of seed every seed has three parts the first part of the seed is called the seed coat seed coat protects the other parts of the seed from injury insects and loss of water seed coat gives the parts inside the seed chance to survive until the conditions are just right to start new plant inside the seed coat is the second part of the seed called the embryo the embryo contains all the parts that are needed to become new plant third part of seed is its stored food stored food is used by the embryo when it begins to grow when plant embryo begins to grow we say that the plant is germinating germination is the beginning of the growth of plant embryo germination depends upon the right amount of water the right temperature and enough oxygen many seeds germinate in the spring because the temperature of the ground and air are warmer plants just like other living things have life cycle some plant life cycles can be completed in one year some plants take longer but no matter how long plant's life cycle all seed plants go through the following cycle of germination plant growth seed formation and scattering well there you have it plants they are very important part of our life they provide us with food raw materials to make things and are used to make medicines too and one more thing many plants make the real world more beautiful place to live