Plant's Life cycle for kids.

Hi friends, hope you all are doing well this pandemic and hope your summers are going well at home.

 You must be liking beautiful colorful flowers and fruits around Right!

And in this pandemic many of you must be drawing and coloring them out.

But,Hey are you guys growing plants?

Think how fun it would be to grow your own favorite fruit or flower in your beautifully decorated flowerpot. 

Do you know how plants grow?

Do you know the wonderful life cycle of plants?

Let's take a journey through plant's life process . 

🚌🚌🚌

CHAPTER 1.

Plant goes through various stages in its life.

1.Germination

2.Growth or maturation

3.Budding and Blooming

4.pollination

5.fruiting

Most plants start as seeds .

 Seeds need :

soil.

 

 water .

 sunlight. 

Now what happens next?

These seeds sprout in few days.

Sprout means the seed will start growing Roots under the soil and  shoots (Leaves and small stem) outside the soil.

Now these sprouted young plants are  called  Seedlings .

Look in this picture how seed has sprouted out of soil and has grown Shoots to become seedling.

Look in this picture Roots are growing under the  soil.  

This process from seeding to seedling is called  : Germination.(Stage 1.) 

We germinate the seed and it grows out as seedling.

Now comes the :  Growth or Maturation (Stage 2.)

The baby plant seedling will grow and becomes a mature plant.

Mature plant

This plant now goes to : Budding and Blooming (Stage 3).

Buds grow on the plant and then slowly in few days the buds bloom and become  Flowers.

Sunflower bud

Rose bud

Sunflower 

Rose

Pollination (stage 4.)

Flowers are special,  they make new seeds  inside them . 

To make new seeds flower needs pollen grains. 

Where does the pollen grains come from?

Pollen grains come through  pollination. 

Pollination means: The flower receives pollen grains from other flowers of same kind by the help of 

Pollen Vectors  like BEES, BUTTERFLY, BIRDS.

 In other words, 

 Pollen Vectors bring pollen grains (from other flowers  of same kind )and drop them in the flower to make seeds.

Bee on sunflower 

Butterfly on sunflower 

Bee on Sunflower 

 Flowers  make new seeds inside  them.Some flower  make one seed and some flowers make lots of seeds.

Fruiting (Stage 5.)

The new seeds  formed inside flower  get a protective covering  around them , which  grows slowly  and replaces flower. It protects seed from getting destroyed by birds,animals,wind,harsh weather conditions. 

This is called fruit.

We eat fruits and vegetables everyday  and find those new seeds inside them . Some fruits have one seed , some have many seeds.

Eggplant seeds, okra seeds, cucumber seeds 

Orange seeds, watermelon seeds ,apple seeds, papaya seeds  and avocado seed 

Rose hip(fruit) and rose seeds

some seeds fall on ground directly from flower and grow right there.

 some are spread around. some are very light , they can blow in wind. some can float and move with water. some seeds are sticky .They stick to clothes, fur etc. People and animals carry them to  far new place.

CHAPTER  2.

(Note: This chapter explains a few points from chapter 1. I felt it necessary  to give a little  detail on some points ,so that if a kid comes out with a question,  they could get there answer here.) 

Humans ,Birds, Animals all of these are either  a boy or girl 

Or you can say a male or a female. 

But most of  the flowers are both. A flower has both a male and a female portion  for reproduction. 

 

Let's take a look  at flower parts.

 A flower has - 

1.Petals 

2. sepals  

3.Stamens

4. Carpels 

1. Petals: are bright colored and they are useful to attract pollinators like bees, butterflies etc. 

   2. Sepals: base of glower,green color , protects the bud by covering it. Also called as Calyx.

3. Stamens: Male part of flower. It consist of Filament and Anther.  Anther contains the pollen grains.

   4. Carpels  : Also called as Pistil.  It consist of 

          Stigma- receives pollen grains.

             Style: long slender stalk where pollen tube forms.

           Ovary: at the base of pistil, contain ovules.

           Ovules: are the egg cells of a flower.

We  know  seeds are formed inside flower. 

But what two main things flower need to make seed?

That is : pollen grains  and ovules . 

Pollen grains and ovules they fuse together to make new seed . This process is called Reproduction.

1.  In Some flowers ,   the pollen grains drops from anther to stigma of same flower,  by wind  or human touch or birds sitting and feeding on them. This way they get their own pollen on stigma. This is called as Self -Pollination. 
2.  Most of the other  flowers get pollen grains from other flowers of same kind.  Pollen grains are sticky ,they get stick on pollination vectors like bees, birds when they come to feed nectar. And when they sit on next flower, they drop them on that next flower. This is called Cross- pollination.   Majority plants undergo cross-pollination.                                                                                                                      
3. some other flowers, undergo both kinds of pollination.

For Example,  a Bee goes to sunflower A ,pollen grains stick on it and then the Bee goes on Sunflower B of same plant or other Plant , and drops the pollen there on stigma of Sunflower B.

But, what happens if that Bee does not goes on sunflower B and goes to some other flower like a rose flower?

the Bee drops the pollen at Rose flower stigma ,but the stigma of rose flower rejects its entrance into it.

 That means stigma of flower only accepts the compatible pollens.

Can you tell how pollen grains from the top of stigma reaches at the bottom to the ovules to fuse?

Lets see how,

 Pollen grains which drop at stigma of flower,are taken by stigma , then in response to pollen grain, style forms a pollen tube , through this pollen tube pollen grain reaches to ovule and fuse to form new seeds. 

Now the ovary which surrounds the ovules , it gets fleshy and grows .It replaces flower  and gives protection to seed. This is called a FRUIT.

Eat healthy,live long,live strong!

 

Take care😊