Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Mehrin, and I'm so excited to be learning all about asexual reproduction in plants with you.

Let's begin.

Welcome to today's lesson from the unit Reproduction and life cycles: plants.

Your learning outcome is, "I can explain how plants can reproduce asexually." I know that learning can sometimes be a little bit challenging, but that's okay 'cause it just means that we are going to work really hard together, and we're going to learn some fabulous new things.

So here are all of your keywords for today's lesson.

Now I am going to be referring to these keywords along with the definitions throughout today's lesson.

However, if you find it helpful, you can pause the video here and you can jot these down.

Fabulous.

Well done.

So your lesson is put into two parts today.

Let's begin with the first part, sexual and asexual reproduction in plants.

So some children are talking about plant reproduction, and Jacob says, "Can plants reproduce without making seeds?" Sofia says, "I don't think so.

plants can't have babies." And John said, "Some plants grow out of bulbs.

I think bulbs are different seeds." What do you think about these statements that the children have come up with, or the question that Jacob has asked? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So plants can reproduce in different ways.

Some plants create offspring by making seeds.

So when a flowering plant is pollinated either by animals or the wind, it's then fertilised and seeds form inside the flowers ovary, and here we have a picture of a plant being pollinated.

Now this type of reproduction is called sexual reproduction, and it usually involves more than one parent plant, and it always requires pollen from a male part of a flower being transferred to a female part.

So the offspring of plants that have been made through sexual reproduction will share a combination of characteristics of their parent plant.

So these characteristics can include height, petal colours, and shapes, leaf size, and shape or their scent.

And the offspring will not be exactly the same as either of their parent plants.

So plants can also reproduce asexually, which means a single parent plant can reproduce on its own.

So for example, potato plants can reproduce asexually, and this type of reproduction doesn't need any transfer of pollen between male and female parts of flower.

So let's do a quick check-in of your learning.

True or false? plants can only reproduce in one way.

Is that true or false? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is false.

And why do you think this might be? Again, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous.

Well done.

The answer is because plants can reproduce sexually or asexually.

So asexual plant reproduction is when A, more than one parent plant makes new plant.

B, a single parent plant makes new plants on its own.

Or C, plants make a single copy of themselves after being pollinated.

Again, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous.

Well done.

The answer is B.

A single parent plant makes new plants on its own.

Now the offspring of plants that have been made through asexual reproduction are identical to their parent plant.

And plants that have exactly the same characteristics as their parent plant are called clones.

So let's do a quick checking of your learning before we continue.

plants that have been reproduced asexually are clones.

This means their characteristics are A, identical to their parent plant, B, completely different to their parent plant, or C, partly the same and partly different to their parent plant.

Again, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is A, identical to their parent plant.

So here is your first activity for today, and it says, "Sort the statements into the Venn diagram.

A, offspring are clones of their parent plant.

B, offspring have a combination of characteristics from each parent plant.

C, offspring are created.

D, requires pollination and fertilisation.

E, can be done by one parent plant or F, requires more than one parent plant.

So here we have got the Venn diagram in which you are going to sort it.

So what I'd like you to do is to pause the video here, and you can go back in this video to go and have a look at our Venn diagram.

So I'd like you to have a go at doing this activity, and then come back to the video once you are ready.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So you should have had, in sexual reproduction, you should have had B, D, and F.

In asexual reproduction, you should have had A and E.

And the bit that goes in both, so it goes in the middle, would be C.

That "Offspring are created." Now we are on to the second part of your learning today, which is how plants reproduce asexually.

So plants can reproduce asexually in different ways.

One way is through something called runners.

And here we've got a runner in a strawberry plant.

And runners are a type of stem that grows horizontally across the ground instead of upwards, and runners are able to grow roots to form new plants.

And these plants will have identical characteristics to the parent plant that produce the runner.

Strawberry, mint and spider plants are all examples of plants that can reproduce asexually using runners.

So let's do a quick check-in of your learning so far.

It says, "Which of these statements about runners is incorrect?" A, plants can reproduce asexually with runners.

B, runners can grow their own roots to form new plants, or C, runners are a special type of seed formed by the parent plant.

So I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is C, runners are a special type of seed formed by the parent plant.

So let's carry on with our learning.

So it says, "Some plants reproduce asexually with bulbs.

A bulb is a special kind of underground food store for plants.

So tulips, onions, and garlic are all examples of plants that reproduce with bulbs.

Now, smaller bulbs grow around the centre of the main bulb.

So here we've got the main bulb, and then we've got the smaller bulbs underneath, and this is a hyacinth bulb, and each of these can then grow into a new plant.

And new plants are clones of the plant from the original bulb.

Let's do a quick check-in of your learning.

What is the name of this part found on some plants which can reproduce asexually? Is it A, the bulb, B, the seed, C, the runner, or D, the stigma? Again, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is A, bulb.

So plants can also reproduce asexually using its tubers.

And tubers are food stores for plants that grow beneath the ground.

So sweet potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes are examples of plants that can reproduce using tubers.

So have you ever seen sprouts or eyes that are growing on a potato? Well, tubers are able to sprout several shoots and roots which grow into new plants.

And potatoes are tubers and the eyes are new plants beginning to grow.

Now tubers grow under the ground, and can survive through cold winters when the rest of the plant dies.

So in warm weather, a new plant that has identical characteristics to the parent plant grows out of the tuber.

So let's do a quick check-in of your learning so far.

Potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes can reproduce asexually using what? Is it A, seeds, B, pollination, C, tubers, or D, bulbs? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is tubers.

Some children talking about plant reproduction and Jacob says, "Can some plants reproduce both sexually and asexually?" John says, "I think they can only reproduce in one way.

I've never found any seeds in a potato before, and I know they can reproduce asexually with tubers." Sofia says, "But showy plants can reproduce using runners, and they definitely have seeds." What do you think? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So most plants can reproduce asexually through runners tubers or bulbs, and they can also reproduce sexually through pollination.

So we don't find seeds inside tubers or bulbs because seeds are made inside the ovaries of the plant's flowers, after they've been pollinated.

So true or false? Some plants can reproduce both sexually and asexually.

I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is true.

So here is your second task for today and it says, "Identify the type of asexual reproduction shown in each photograph." So what asexual reproduction is happening in plant A, and what asexual reproduction is happening in plant B? So I'd like you to pause the video here, and have a go at doing this activity.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So now here is plant C.

So again, I'd like you to pause the video, and have a go identifying the type of asexual reproduction shown in this photograph.

Off you go.

Fabulous.

Well done.

So in plant A, it's bulbs, plant B, it's tubers, and in plant C, it's runners.

So now I'd like you to explain how plants reproduce asexually using runners, bulbs, and tubers.

So again, I'd like you to pause video here, and have a go at doing this activity.

Off you go.

Fabulous.

Well done.

So A, some plants can reproduce runners which grow their roots and new plants.

The new plants have identical characteristics to the parent plant.

B, plants that grow from bulbs can grow daughter bulbs, which then grow into new clones of the parent plant.

And C, some plants can grow tubers, which can survive underground when the rest of the plant dies.

They can then grow new plants with characteristics that are identical to the parent plant.

So now we are onto the summary of our learning today.

So some plants can reproduce asexually, which means a single parent plant can reproduce on its own.

Plants produced asexually are clones, which means their characteristics are identical to their parent plant, and bulbs, runners, and tubers are examples of asexual plant reproduction.

Well done for your fantastic critical thinking in today's lesson.

I am so proud of you.

Well done.