96 Plants: Supplemental Guide 3C | The Life Cycle of a Plant
What is happening in the first picture?- The seed is just beginning to sprout.
Can you identify—or find—this plant’s first root?
[Have a student point to the plant’s first root.]
The next several pictures show the same plant several days later. As
the plant grows, more thin roots grow deeper into the soil. The roots
absorb water and nutrients and push them up through the plant’s
stem, which grows above ground.[Have a student point to the thin roots growing deeper into the soil. Have
another student point to the stem beginning to grow above the ground.]
Show image 3A-4: Seedling
It takes time for a seedling to grow into a full-grown, mature, adult
plant.Do all seedlings take the same amount of time to grow into a mature
plant?- The time it takes for a seedling to grow into a mature plant is different for
different types of plants.
If the seedling receives the right amount of water, nutrients, and light,
it will continue to grow.
Show image 3A-1: Sunflower
Sooner or later, the seedling will grow into an adult sunflower plant.
The adult plant will make seeds. What can grow from these seeds?- New sunflower plants can grow from the seeds.
Compare the picture of the seedling to the picture of a sunflower. Tell
your partner how they are alike and different.
[Allow thirty seconds for students to talk. Call on a few volunteers to answer.]
Eventually, what happens to all plants?- Eventually, all plants die.
When the plant dies and decays, the old plant becomes part of the
soil where seeds might germinate into new plants. A new life cycle
of a plant begins!