New
New
Year 9

Fruit and seeds

I can explain how fruits are formed and how the structure of a seed enables germination.

New
New
Year 9

Fruit and seeds

I can explain how fruits are formed and how the structure of a seed enables germination.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

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

Keywords

  • 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 misconception

A seed is not living.

A seed is living, it contains an embryo and a food store and is a stage of development in the growth of offspring.

Make comparisons between the development of plants and humans (Y8) and also get pupils to identify ovaries and seeds from different fruits, and their absence from vegetables.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
What do plants compete for?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: light
Correct answer: pollinators
prey
warmth
Q2.
What is the female gamete of flowering plants called?
ovule
ovary
Correct answer: ova
Q3.
What is the fusion of gametes called?
Correct Answer: fertilisation
Q4.
What is a zygote?
an embryo
a gamete
Correct answer: a fertilised egg
a type of seed
Q5.
What is the name of the material that carries the male gamete of flowering plants?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: pollen, pollen grain, pollen grains
Q6.
Put these stages of development in order.
1 - gamete
2 - zygote
3 - embryo
Q5 BlueRingMedia/Shutterstock

6 Questions

Q1.
True or false? A seed is a single cell.
true
Correct answer: false
Q2.
Seeds form in the of a flower.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: ovary, ovaries
Q3.
True or false? A fruit is a seed.
An image in a quiz
true
Correct answer: false
Q4.
How are dandelion clocks most likely to be dispersed?
water
animals
explosion
Correct answer: plants
wind
Q5.
Put these stages of development in the right order.
1 - gametes
2 - zygote
3 - embryo
4 - seed
Q6.
Match the structure to its description.
Correct Answer:seed,This is made up of a tough outer coating, a food store and an embryo.

This is made up of a tough outer coating, a food store and an embryo.

Correct Answer:ovary,Where fertilisation takes place.

Where fertilisation takes place.

Correct Answer:embryo,An early stage of growth and development of offspring.

An early stage of growth and development of offspring.

Correct Answer:fruit,The ripened ovary of a seed producing plant.

The ripened ovary of a seed producing plant.

Correct Answer:endosperm,Food store to provide nutrients to the embryo.

Food store to provide nutrients to the embryo.

Correct Answer:hilum,Scar on a seed where it attached to the ovary.

Scar on a seed where it attached to the ovary.

Q2 BlueRingMedia/Shutterstock