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Year 9 - Science

Fruit and seeds

Reproduction in plants

Unit Summary

This unit explores plant reproduction, including flower structure, pollination, fertilisation, seed formation, and dispersal mechanisms. It highlights the role of insect pollination in food security. Focus is on planning and conducting enquiries, and ensuring reliable observations.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to explain how fruits are formed and how the structure of a seed enables germination.

Key Notes

  • Seeds contain an embryo, food store and a tough outer coat, and they are formed in the ovary.
  • A fruit is the mature and ripened ovary of a seed-producing plant.
  • Fruits often contain seeds which will grow into a new plant, given the right conditions.
  • Seeds are adapted to be dispersed by animals, wind and water.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • seed: The development stage in the growth of a plant's offspring.
  • fruit: The ripened ovary of seed-producing plants; it can be fleshy or dry.
  • embryo: A development stage in the growth of a new offspring, in a plant it is formed inside a seed.
  • ovary: An organ in the female reproductive system. In a plant, fertilisation and seed formation take place here.
  • fertilisation: The fusion of gametes to form a zygote; the gametes of a plant are pollen and ova.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • A seed is not living.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain the scientific idea in this lesson using two key points.

Seeds contain an embryo, food store and a tough outer coat, and they are formed in the ovary. A fruit is the mature and ripened ovary of a seed-producing plant.

2. Define this scientific word and use it in context. 'seed'

The development stage in the growth of a plant's offspring. Include the word in a full scientific explanation, not as a single label.

3. Correct this common scientific misunderstanding.

Mistake: A seed is not living. Correction: A seed is living, it contains an embryo and a food store and is a stage of development in the growth of offspring.

More Lessons In This Unit

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