Plant Physiology and Reproduction
In this module, we will be continuing and completing our study of plants.
Think Ahead for Labs: When this module falls in the spring and summer, finding flowers is an easy task. It is a bit more challenging when there is still snow on the ground in many places. If you can get a bloom or two, you will have what you need for the flower dissection lab in this module. Remember that labs are optional, so if you cannot get flowers, don’t sweat it. Instead, replace the flower dissection lab with an exploration of fruit (anything with seeds in it is a fruit – even cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes).
Think Ahead for Labs: When this module falls in the spring and summer, finding flowers is an easy task. It is a bit more challenging when there is still snow on the ground in many places. If you can get a bloom or two, you will have what you need for the flower dissection lab in this module. Remember that labs are optional, so if you cannot get flowers, don’t sweat it. Instead, replace the flower dissection lab with an exploration of fruit (anything with seeds in it is a fruit – even cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes).
Lecture 1: Plant Physiology (hormones)
In lecture 1 of this module, we will go deeper in to plant physiology and exploring water dependencies of plants, plant hormones. Plant hormones have neat sounding names such as auxins, gibberellins, and cytokinins. A plant hormone (ethylene) can be used in a gas form to force fruit to ripen after they are picked and have arrived at their destination. If you place bananas in to a bag where the gas that comes from the banana itself can collect and concentrate you may be able to get them to ripen sooner. Give it a try and see if it will work.
Rooting hormone is another interesting plant hormone that you can buy. You can make it as well (willow tree tea), but when our family tried it the experiment the tea didn’t improve rooting speed. Your attempt may prove more successful though.
Rooting hormone is another interesting plant hormone that you can buy. You can make it as well (willow tree tea), but when our family tried it the experiment the tea didn’t improve rooting speed. Your attempt may prove more successful though.
Lecture 2: Plant Reproduction
In lecture 2, we will focus on plant reproduction exploring both asexual (cloning, vegetative reproduction) and sexual reproduction (flowers). Plants have a huge array of ways to reproduce besides just flowers. If you have pollen allergy sufferers in the family, this is the lecture where you will learn more about the real culprits for the allergies. It isn't always the obvious flowers that get blamed that are the culprit, but instead the source is often the flowers you barely even notice that happen to bloom at the same time as a more showy cousin. Good choices in flowering plants, grasses, and trees for landscaping can reduce the pollen load in the air and make the outdoors a bit more bearable for those prone to having allergy symptoms.
Lecture 3: Seed, Fruit, and Early Development
In lecture 3, we will focus on seeds, fruits, and early plant development. I think that you will be surprised by the many categories and some of the not so obvious factoids about nuts that will pop up in this lecture. This lecture also leads to some very tasty labs.
Germination is a topic that pops up. You may have collected seeds from fruit with the plan to plant them the following year. You might have found that the stored seeds didn't germinate. In this lecture, find out what might have been missing from your seed's storage conditions that caused the failure.
Germination is a topic that pops up. You may have collected seeds from fruit with the plan to plant them the following year. You might have found that the stored seeds didn't germinate. In this lecture, find out what might have been missing from your seed's storage conditions that caused the failure.
Module Slideshow
Before we move on to labs, enjoy a few scenes from our family plant explorations.
Lab 15.1: Flower Anatomy
Though the worm, crayfish, frog, and perch dissections came in earlier modules, this one is also a true dissection. Your goal is to observe and better understand how the anatomy of the flower is geared toward reproduction and fruit/seed production. If you can find flowers in varied stages along the way to fruit/seed production that can be an excellent extension of this lab. You will see several images in the slideshow above that we took during our flower dissection. If you have a microscope, hand lens, and camera bring it on out for your lab and include the images in your lab report. If you don't have a camera, get out a pencil and paper and sketch what you see. It will improve your observation skills.
Lab 15.2: Fruit
Now this is a tasty lab! Get a wide variety of fruit, nuts, and seeds from your grocer and garden to explore. In the lecture you learned to identify the different types of fruit and nuts. Be sure to use the terminology in your lab report. If you want to do something a little different, try making a video report like my youngest son did in the following VoiceThread ....
Make Your Own Rooting Hormone
If you have access to willow, they are particularly rich in rooting hormone. Merely collect some of the thin, weeping branches and chop them up. Bring water to a boil and then turn off the heat. Add the chopped stems into the water and let the water steep for 10 to 15 minutes. Test this 'willow branch tea' as a rooting hormone liquid and see if plants root faster in it than in plain water (control).
Dispersal of Seeds, Germination, and Growth
Design your own lab that explores the topics of seed dispersal, germination, and growth.
The early development of seeds into plants has been a common exploration of children for generations. Even moms and dads probably remember placing bean sprouts in a glass jar with a wet paper toewl lining to press the seeds gently against the side of the jar. If your family hasn't yet done this hands-on, now is a great time to explore it.
The early development of seeds into plants has been a common exploration of children for generations. Even moms and dads probably remember placing bean sprouts in a glass jar with a wet paper toewl lining to press the seeds gently against the side of the jar. If your family hasn't yet done this hands-on, now is a great time to explore it.