Click image to open full size
Plant Reproduction & Pollination Cheat Sheet
A printable reference covering flower anatomy, pollination, fertilization, seeds, fruits, and plant life cycles for grades 6-10.
Related Tools
Related Labs
Related Worksheets
Related Infographics
Plant reproduction explains how flowering plants make new plants through flowers, pollen, seeds, and fruit. This cheat sheet helps students connect flower parts to the jobs they perform in reproduction. It also shows how pollination and fertilization are different steps in the same overall process. Students need these ideas to understand plant life cycles, ecosystems, farming, and biodiversity. The main reproductive parts of a flower are the stamen, which makes pollen, and the pistil or carpel, which contains the ovary and ovules. Pollination happens when pollen moves from an anther to a stigma, often by wind, water, or animals. Fertilization happens after a sperm cell from pollen joins an egg cell in an ovule. After fertilization, the ovule becomes a seed, and the ovary usually develops into a fruit.
Key Facts
- The stamen is the male reproductive part of a flower and includes the anther, which produces pollen, and the filament, which supports the anther.
- The pistil or carpel is the female reproductive part of a flower and includes the stigma, style, ovary, and ovules.
- Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma of a flower.
- Fertilization is the joining of a sperm cell from pollen with an egg cell inside an ovule.
- After fertilization, the ovule develops into a seed, and the ovary usually develops into a fruit.
- Self-pollination occurs when pollen reaches the stigma of the same plant, while cross-pollination occurs when pollen reaches a different plant of the same species.
- Pollinators such as bees, butterflies, birds, and bats help many flowering plants reproduce by carrying pollen between flowers.
- A basic plant life cycle is seed, germination, seedling, mature plant, flower, pollination, fertilization, fruit, and new seed.
Vocabulary
- Pollination
- Pollination is the movement of pollen from an anther to a stigma so reproduction can begin.
- Fertilization
- Fertilization is the process in which a sperm cell joins with an egg cell to form the first cell of a new plant.
- Stamen
- The stamen is the male flower part made of the anther and filament, and it produces pollen.
- Pistil
- The pistil is the female flower part that includes the stigma, style, ovary, and ovules.
- Ovule
- An ovule is the structure inside the ovary that contains an egg cell and can become a seed after fertilization.
- Seed Dispersal
- Seed dispersal is the movement of seeds away from the parent plant by wind, water, animals, or gravity.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Confusing pollination with fertilization is wrong because pollination only moves pollen to the stigma, while fertilization is the joining of sperm and egg cells.
- Calling pollen a seed is wrong because pollen carries sperm cells, while a seed forms after fertilization and contains a young plant embryo.
- Thinking all plants need animal pollinators is wrong because some plants are pollinated by wind, water, or self-pollination.
- Mixing up ovule and ovary is wrong because the ovule becomes the seed, while the ovary usually becomes the fruit.
- Assuming fruit only means sweet food is wrong because in biology a fruit is a mature ovary that contains seeds, such as tomatoes, peppers, and beans.
Practice Questions
- 1 A flower has 6 anthers, and each anther makes about 200 pollen grains. How many pollen grains are produced in total?
- 2 A plant produces 18 fertilized ovules. If each fertilized ovule becomes one seed, how many seeds can form?
- 3 In a garden, 12 flowers were visited by bees and 9 of them later formed fruits. What fraction of the visited flowers formed fruits?
- 4 Explain why a plant that attracts many pollinators may have a better chance of producing seeds than a plant that attracts very few pollinators.