Plants growing and changing

Life Sciences
Standards
Preview
Standard Set 2. Life Sciences
2. Plants and animals have
predictable life cycles. As a basis for
understanding this concept:

2.f. Students know flowers and fruits
are associated with reproduction in
plants.

2.e. Students know light, gravity,
touch, or environmental stress can
affect the germination, growth, and
development of plants.

by Mary Beth Spann

Genre

Nonfiction

Comprehension Skill

Main Idea and Details •
•
•
•

Text Features

Captions
Labels
Diagrams
Glossary

Science Content

Plants

Scott Foresman Science 2.5

ISBN 0-328-23508-3

ì<(sk$m)=cdfaih< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U


Vocabulary
germinate
pollen
seed coat
seedling
stem

Plants

Growing and Changing

by Mary Beth Spann

Picture Credits
Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material. The
publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.
Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the copyright of Dorling Kindersley, a division of Pearson.

ISBN: 0-328-23508-3
Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any
prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding permission(s), write to
Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue, Glenview, Illinois 60025.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V010 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06


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.

The Parts of a Plant
Most plants have roots, a stem, leaves, and
flowers. 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 flowers. These
seeds can grow new plants.

stem

flower

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

2

roots

3


Plants and The
Environment

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.

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.

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

This plant is not healthy.
It needs more sunlight
and water.

4

This plant is healthy.
It gets the right amount
of sunlight and water.

5


More Ways Plants Change
Wind can change how a plant grows. The
beach morning glory plant’s flowers 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.

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.

Beach morning glory
flowers grow low
along the ground.

Forget-me-not flowers
also grow low along
the ground.

6

Soil nutrients help tomato
plants grow and stay healthy.

7


Flowers, Seeds,
And Fruit
The outside parts of a flower are called
petals. The inside of flowers contains a powder
called pollen. Seeds are in each flower 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.

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 sunflower cannot
grow without a seed coat.

seed

pollen
seed coat

petal

tiny plant

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

8

grown plant

9

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.

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 flowers grow into
apples. The cycle starts over.

The seedling becomes
an adult tree. The tree
grows flowers.
Air and water help
an apple seed
germinate.

A seedling grows
from the apple seed.

10

11


Glossary
germinate

1. Why do plants need nutrients?

begin to grow

pollen

a powder found in flowers

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

12

What did you learn?
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
find 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.