Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Mehrin, and I'm so excited to be learning all about plants from cuttings with you today.

Let's begin.

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

Your learning outcome is I can explain how to reproduce new plants from cuttings.

Now we are going to be referring to some of your previous learning about reproduction, and we are going to be applying some of that to today's lesson.

Now I know that learning can sometimes be a little bit challenging, but that's okay, because it just means that we are going to work really hard together, and we're going to learn lots of fabulous new things.

Let's begin.

So here are your five keywords for today's lesson.

Alongside these are the definitions.

Now I am going to be referring to these throughout today's video.

However, if you find it helpful, you can put the video on pause here, and have a go at jotting these down.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

So let's begin with the first part of our learning today, which is reproduction from cuttings.

So some children are talking about reproduction.

Andeep says, "Cats have kittens and hens have chicks.

Can plants reproduce like animals can?" And Izzy says, "I think plants have offspring by making seeds." And Jacob says, "I think plants can reproduce in other ways than just with seeds." What do you think? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

So plants can reproduce to make new plants, or offspring, in different ways.

Flowering plants can reproduce after they have been pollinated, just like in this picture here.

And then they form seeds which grow into new plants.

And this type of reproduction is called sexual reproduction.

Now remember, you can go back to previous lessons if you need a refresher on any of these.

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

Plants can reproduce sexually by A, being pollinated and forming seeds, B, germinating and laying eggs, or C, using photosynthesis to create babies.

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

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

The answer is A, being pollinated and forming seeds.

Now plants can also reproduce asexually with runners, tubers, or bulbs.

Here we have a spider plant with runners, potato tubers, and daffodil bulbs.

And they can do this without any help from other living things, including humans.

So they can do it all by themselves.

Now which of these ways to reproduce is not asexual? A, bulbs, B, runners, C, fertilisation, or D, tubers? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

The answer is C, fertilisation.

So some plants can reproduce when part of a single plant is used to create a new one.

This is useful for plants in the wild, as it means they can still reproduce if they are broken up or damaged.

So for example, in the right conditions, Japanese knotweed is able to reproduce a new plant from a piece of root as small as two millimetres long, which is about the size of the tip of your fingernail, which makes it very difficult for humans to control where it grows.

Now some plants can reproduce when A, part of one plant develops seeds under the ground, B, parts of many plants fuse together to create a new one, or C, part of one plant is able to grow into a new plant.

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

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

The answer is C, part of one plant is able to grow into a new plant.

Now humans can also produce new plants by removing a part from a parent plant, and giving it the right conditions it needs to grow into a new plant.

And the part we take or cut from a parent plant is called a cutting.

So we can use the tops of some plants like carrots, turnips, and pineapples to produce more plants.

Just like other cuttings, if given the right conditions, these plant parts can grow into new plants.

And plants grown from cuttings have come from a single plant, so they are clones of this parent plant.

Which basically means it's going to look exactly the same as the parent plant is, same colour and everything.

So this means they're going to have identical characteristics to their parent plant.

So let's do a quick check-in of your learning so far before we continue with the rest of today's lesson.

So cuttings can be used to grow new plants which are something of the parent plant.

Is it clones of the parent plant? Seeds of the parent plant? Or babies of the parent plant? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

The answer is A, clones of the parent plant.

Now producing clones of plants like this can be useful as it means farmers and florists can grow plants with the same desirable characteristics as their parents.

So farmers can produce plants that have the largest fruits, for example.

Now to produce your own new plant from a cutting, you need to choose a suitable plant.

And Andeep did some research, and he says, "I did some research and found out that mint, rosemary, and basil are all good plants to grow from cuttings." So you're going to cut off a stem or side stem from the parent plant that is around 5 to 10 centimetres long, just like this.

And you don't want to just pull it out, you need to cut it carefully.

Next you are going to carefully cut off all the leaves except for the ones at the very top, just like in this picture here.

Finally, you're going to place your cutting either in water or in compost.

And Jacob says, "Adding rooting powder to the bottom of your cutting before planting it in compost can help it to form roots quickly, but this is not essential." So you don't have to do it.

And cutting of plants can be placed into what, and left in a warm place with some light to produce new plants.

Is it A, water, B, compost, C, boxes, or D, sand? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

It's water and compost.

So here is your first task.

You are going to follow the instructions to take and plant your own cutting.

So carefully cut a stem or side stem from your parent plant, and it should be around 5 to 10 centimetres long.

You're going to remove any leaves on the stem apart from the ones at the very top of your cutting.

Then you're going to carefully place your cutting in compost or water.

Only the bottom of the cutting should be under the compost or water with the top part sticking out.

So you don't want to immerse your entire cutting in water.

Keep your cutting in a warm place that has plenty of light, but not direct sunlight.

If your cuttings are growing in compost, you may need to add a little water every few days if it looks very dry.

So what I'd like you to do now is to pause the video here, and have a go at doing this activity.

Remember you can go back in this video to see the other instructions as well.

Okay, off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

So Andeep says, "I took a cutting from some basil and put it in water.

What sort of plant did you use?" Did you use mint, rosemary, basil? There are other things as well that you can do, such as celery, for example.

Which one did you choose to do? So now we are on to the second part of our learning, which is observing the plant growth.

So Andeep and his friends have taken and planted their own cuttings.

Andeep says, "How do you think our new plants will grow?" And Izzy says, "I think mine will grow more leaves first, so the plant can make more food for itself, and then it's going to grow even more." And Jacob says, "I think it's going to grow roots first, so it can absorb lots of water." What do you think? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

So plant scientists, known as botanists, may observe plants carefully over time to see how they grow.

And understanding how plants grow from cuttings can help us to make sure our new plants grow successfully.

So plant growth from cuttings can be something over time to help us understand more about plant reproduction.

Is it A, predicted, B, concluded, or C, observed? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

The answer is observed.

So plant growth from cuttings can be observed over time to help us understand more about plant reproduction.

Now what observations or measurements could we take of our plants as they grow? Well, Andeep says, "We could count how many leaves or roots the plant has." "We can measure the length of the roots." And, "We could measure the height of the plant." Do you have any other ideas about what observations or measurements we could take of our plants as they grow? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

So you can measure the leaves of the plant, for example, and you can just observe whether or not you think your plant is actually doing well.

Is it showing signs of dying? Or does it look healthy? So all of those things that you could be looking for.

Now scientists often use tables to collect their data when carrying out observations, and this makes it easier to record and analyse the information that they have gathered.

Andeep decides to create a table to record his observations, and he says, "In the top row of my table, I'm going to put when I will make my observations." So he's decided he's going to do it on day zero, day five, day 10, day 15, and day 20.

So five days apart each time.

And he says, "I will add what I will be observing or measuring in the first column of the table.

For example, the height of the stem." Now let's do a quick check-in of your learning before we continue.

It says, why do scientists use tables to record their results? Is it because A, it makes their results look more official.

B, it makes their results easier to analyse.

Or C, it takes them longer than writing them down in paragraphs.

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

Off you go.

Fabulous, well done.

The answer is B, it makes their results easier to analyse.

So here is your second task for today.

So you've got two parts to this activity.

The first part is, I want you to decide what you will observe or measure on your cutting and when you will do it.

And I want you to create a table to record your results.

I want you to observe your plan over time, and record your results.

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 Andeep says, "Here is my table.

I'm looking forward to filling it with my results as I observe my cutting over time." So he's decided to go for the number of roots, the number of leaves, and the height of the stem in centimetres.

So over the next 20 days, you are going to have to observe your plant cutting, and see how it goes.

I hope it is really successful.

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

Plants reproduce to make new plants, or offspring, in different ways.

Some plants reproduce asexually by growing a new plant from part of a parent plant.

Plants produced from cuttings are clones of the parent plant.

They are exactly the same.

They share the same identical characteristics.

Plant growth can be observed and recorded over time, which is exactly what you are going to be doing over the next 20 days.

And I hope that this has taught you something new, and something that you are going to be able to do even moving on from this lesson.

Perhaps you can start growing some of your own plants using the cuttings from some plants, and see how that goes.

I think it's a fantastic way to do it.

So you have worked really, really hard today, and you've used your critical thinking, and you've been really careful with your experiment, and setting it all up, and I hope it goes really well.

Well done, everyone.