Plants growing and changing

Plants need water, sunlight, and soil in order to grow.. Plants that do not get the right amount of water and sunlight may not grow well.. Each type of plant grows best in soil that has

Genre Comprehension Skill Text Features Science Content

Nonfi ction Main Idea and Details • Captions

• Labels

• Diagrams

• Glossary

Plants

Scott Foresman Science 2.5

Standards Preview

Standard Set 2 Life Sciences

2 Plants and animals have

predictable life cycles As a basis for

understanding this concept:

2.e Students know light, gravity,

touch, or environmental stress can

affect the germination, growth, and

development of plants.

2.f Students know flowers and fruits

are associated with reproduction in plants.

ISBN 0-328-23508-3

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Life Sciences

by Mary Beth Spann

germinate

pollen

seed coat

seedling

stem

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Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the copyright of Dorling Kindersley, a division of Pearson.

ISBN: 0-328-23508-3

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Plants

Growing and Changing

by Mary Beth Spann

What Plants Need

Plants need things to grow healthy and

strong They need water, air, and sunlight

Plants also need nutrients

Plants get nutrients from the soil They use

them to help make the food that they need

to grow

Plants need water, sunlight, and soil in order to grow.

3

The Parts of a Plant

Most plants have roots, a stem, leaves, and

fl owers Gravity makes roots grow down They hold the plant in place They take in water and nutrients from soil

Water and nutrients travel from the roots

to the stem The stem sends the water and

nutrients to the leaves It also holds the plant up

Seeds form inside the plant’s fl owers These seeds can grow new plants

stem

roots leaves

fl ower

Plants and The

Environment

A change in the environment can change

how a plant grows Plants grow well with the

right amount of sunlight Plants need the right

amount of water too Plants that do not get the

right amount of water and sunlight may not

grow well

This plant is not healthy

It needs more sunlight

and water.

This plant is healthy

It gets the right amount

of sunlight and water.

5

A temperature change can change how a plant grows It cannot be too hot or too cold

Some plants may not grow well if it is too hot

or too cold

When the temperature gets too cold, a plant can die.

More Ways Plants Change

Wind can change how a plant grows The

beach morning glory plant’s fl owers lie close to

the ground They stay safe from the wind

The morning glory plant grows on a vine

stem Vines grow along the ground If wind

breaks a vine off, new roots grow where the

break happened The morning glory’s roots

hold the plant in place even when it is windy

Forget-me-not fl owers also grow low along the ground.

Beach morning glory

fl owers grow low along the ground.

7

Plants get the nutrients they need from soil

Different soils have different nutrients The right kind of soil helps plants grow well Each type

of plant grows best in soil that has the nutrients

it needs If a soil does not have the nutrients a plant needs, the plant may not grow well

Soil nutrients help tomato plants grow and stay healthy.

Flowers, Seeds,

And Fruit

The outside parts of a fl ower are called petals The inside of fl owers contains a powder

called pollen Seeds are in each fl ower too

Pollen helps seeds grow

Look at the peas shown below Fruit grows around the pea seeds to protect them New pea

plants can come from the seeds Many plants

have seeds inside of them

petal pollen

This pea pod’s seeds can grow into new plants.

9

A seed coat is a hard outer covering that

grows around the seed Inside each seed is a tiny plant The seed coat protects the seed’s tiny plant

Inside of the seed is food for the tiny plant

The tiny plant uses this food in order to grow

A sunfl ower cannot grow without a seed coat

tiny plant seed

grown plant

seed coat

The Life Cycle of an Apple Tree

Many different types of plants grow from

seeds An apple tree is a big plant that grows

from a tiny seed An apple seed is planted in

soil With enough water and air, the apple seed

starts to germinate This means it begins to

grow The roots grow down into the soil, and

the stem grows up The young plant is called

a seedling

Air and water help

an apple seed germinate.

A seedling grows

from the apple seed.

11

The apple tree seedling grows It becomes an adult apple tree The new seeds inside the new apples may grow into new apple trees Then the growing cycle can begin all over again

Parts of the fl owers grow into apples The cycle starts over.

The seedling becomes

an adult tree The tree grows fl owers.

germinate begin to grow

pollen a powder found in fl owers

seed coat the hard outer covering of a seed

seedling a young plant

stem the part of a plant that holds it up

and carries water and nutrients

to the leaves

1 Why do plants need nutrients?

2 What part of a plant grows down because of

gravity?

3 You read about the morning glory plant on page 6 What reference would you use if you wanted to

fi nd maps that show where the morning glory grows?

4 Main Ideas and Details What is the main

idea of page 3? List some supporting details support for the main idea