Lesson video

Hi, everyone.

My name is Miss Panchal, and I'm so excited that you've decided to join me in our science lesson today.

We've got lots of wonderful learning to do, all about pollination.

And this lesson on pollination is part of our bigger unit of learning on what plants do and what they need.

We've got lots of learning to do in our lesson today.

So let's get started.

So the outcome for our lesson today is, "I can explain how flowers are pollinated." So we're going to go over some keywords that we're going to use in our lesson, and we're going to practise saying the keywords.

So I'm going to say the word and I would like you to repeat it back to me.

My turn, anther.

Your turn.

Superstar.

My turn, pollen.

Your turn.

Well done.

My turn, stigma.

Your turn.

Amazing, well done.

My turn, pollination.

Your turn.

Superstar.

My turn, pollinator.

Your turn.

Wow, everyone, you've done such a great job of saying those keywords.

Now I'm gonna talk to you a little bit about what they mean.

So the anther is a part of the stamen that produces and holds pollen.

Pollen is a very fine powder made by the anthers of a flower.

And the stigma is a sticky part at the top of the female parts of a flower.

And pollination is when pollen from a male anther is transferred to the female stigma of a flower.

And a pollinator is an animal which pollinates a flowering plant.

Now, I know that's quite a lot of information to take in, but don't worry because we're going to talk through all of these words and use these in our learning today.

And some of you may have already heard of these words before.

Let's get started with the lesson.

So today's lesson is split up into two parts.

We're first going to be looking at pollination by animals and then we're going to look at pollination by wind.

So let's get started with looking at pollination by animals.

So each part of a plant has a function.

And the function of flowers is to allow the plant to reproduce.

And reproduce here means to make more plants.

Flowers have different parts that play a role in reproduction.

We can see the anther here, and anthers are a male part of the plant.

They produce and hold pollen.

And we can see the stigma there.

The stigma is a female part of the plant, and they are often sticky.

For a flower to reproduce, pollination needs to happen.

Pollination is when pollen from a male anther is transferred to the female stigma of a flower.

So we can see the pollen here has been transferred.

Some plants can be pollinated by pollen from their own flowers.

Others need pollen from a different flower.

Alex says that, "How does the pollen move from one place to another?" So Alex is asking a really good question here, 'cause we know that the pollen needs to be transferred, but how does it go and move from one place to another? So pause the video here, have a little bit of thinking time on your own, and then share your ideas with your partner.

How does the pollen move from one place to another? Do you know? Excellent ideas, everybody, well done.

So pollination is when pollen is, what do we think, a, made by a male anther, b, eaten by an insect, c, moved down the plant to add nutrients to the soil, or d, transferred from the male anther to the female stigma? So what do you think is the correct answer, a, b, c, or d? If you need to, go back to the last few slides of our learning to recap on what we have covered and then you can answer the question.

Excellent work, everybody, well done.

The answer is d.

So pollination is when pollen is transferred from the male anther to the female stigma.

Well done, everyone.

So let's move on.

Many plants are pollinated by animals.

And animals visit the flowers to gather nectar from inside the flower.

Nectar is a sugary liquid that many animals drink.

When animals visit the flower, pollen from the anthers is rubbed onto their bodies.

And we've got a bee here covered in pollen.

When they visit another flower, the pollen is rubbed off onto the sticky stigma, and this is how the pollen is transferred.

We call animals that do this pollinators because they pollinate the flowers.

Many different types of insects, including bees and butterflies, are pollinators.

So lots of different insects can be pollinators and are examples of different pollinators.

Some birds and bats can also be pollinators, so larger living things.

Let's do a check of our learning.

What are pollinators, a, animals that carry pollen on their bodies when they take nectar from flowers, b, animals that eat pollen from flowers and use it to make honey, or c, plants that make pollen on their anthers? So think about the learning we've just done on pollinators.

Which one do you think describes pollinators, a, b, or c? Great job, everyone, well done.

The answer is a.

So animals that carry pollen on their bodies when they take nectar from flowers, and these are pollinators.

Super job, everybody, well done.

So Jacob has been learning about pollination, and Jacob says, "It's really kind of the bees and butterflies to pollinate plants for us." Do you agree? So do you think it's really kind for the bees and butterflies to pollinate? What do you think? Hands up for, "Yes, it's really, really kind of them," or hands up if you think, "No, it's not really that kind of them." Great job, everyone.

So animals that pollinate flowers are not doing it to help out the flowers or humans.

They visit the flowers to get food, not to pollinate the flowers.

So actually they're visiting the flowers to get some food, they're not doing it to pollinate the flowers.

Pollination happens anyway as the pollen is rubbed on their bodies.

So when they're going over to those flowers to get their food, the pollen is actually rubbed on their bodies anyway, and that helps the process of pollination.

So let's do a check of our learning.

True or false, animals that pollinate flowers do it because they want to help the flowers reproduce? Do we think that's true or false? Great job, the answer is false, but we need to think about why.

Do we think that's because, a, they visit flowers to gather nectar for themselves, not to help the flowers, or b, they visit flowers to help the plants grow taller and stronger? Which do you think is correct, a or b? Super job, everyone, well done.

So they visit flowers to gather nectar for themselves, that's their food, not to help the flowers.

So flowers that are pollinated by animals often have brightly coloured petals, and strong, pleasant smells and scents.

Why do you think this is? So pause the video here and have a little think on your own.

Why do we think that these flowers have brightly coloured petals and strong smells? What do you think? Wonderful ideas, everybody, well done.

So these flowers are colourful and smell nice to encourage pollinators to visit the flowers.

This means they are more likely to be pollinated, so a flower that has beautiful petals and really brightly coloured and smells beautiful is going to be more likely to be pollinated than a flower that maybe doesn't smell as nice or maybe is not as brightly coloured.

Some flowers even have patterns on their petals, showing pollinators where they can find the nectar.

So it's actually helping the pollinators to locate where they need to go to find the nectar.

These patterns encourage the animals to pass by the flower's anthers and get covered in pollen.

So we can see here three examples of different flowers with really brightly coloured petals, but actually, they've got some patterns on there to help the pollinators to find where the nectar is.

Let's do a check of our learning.

Flowers that are pollinated by animals are usually, a, brightly coloured and nice smelling, b, very small and dark coloured, or c, dull coloured with an unpleasant scent? Which one do you think is correct, a, b or c? Great job, everybody, well done.

So the answer is a, flowers that are pollinated by animals are usually brightly coloured and nice smelling.

And we said that that attracts the pollinators.

Great job, everyone, well done.

So we're going to move on to the next task now.

Are these statements correct or incorrect, a, pollination happens when pollen is transferred from the stigma to an anther, b, bees are the only animals that pollinate flowers, and c, pollinators visit flowers because they are looking for food? So pause the video here, have a think about these three statements, which are correct and which are incorrect? Click play when you're ready to continue and we'll go through the answers.

Super job, everyone, well done.

So let's go through the answers, a, pollination happens when pollen is transferred from the stigma to an anther, and that's incorrect.

b, bees are the only animals that pollinate flowers.

We know that's also incorrect.

And c, pollinators visit flowers because they are looking for food, and that is correct.

Well done, everyone.

So the next part of the lesson I would like you to rewrite the incorrect statements so that they are correct.

So, a, pollination happens when pollen is transferred from the stigma to an anther, and b, bees are the only animals that pollinate flowers.

So pause the video here, and I would like you to rewrite these statements so that they are correct.

Click play when you're ready to continue, and we'll go through the answer.

Excellent work, everyone, well done.

So pollination happens when pollen is transferred from the anther to the stigma.

And many different types of insects, birds and bats, can pollinate flowers.

Did you get the same answers? Well done for having a good go, everybody.

So let's move on to the second part of our lesson where we're going to be learning about pollination by wind.

So Sam has found a plant on her school field, and this is the plant that she has found.

Sam has said, "What's that at the top? Is it a flower?" And Jacob says, "It can't be a flower, it's not brightly coloured, it must be a leaf." What do you think? Pause the video here, have a think with your talk partner.

What do you think it is at the top of the flower that Sam has found? Great job, everyone, well done.

So not all flowering plants are pollinated by animals, some are actually pollinated by the wind.

So pollen from these plants is very small and light so that it will be easily blown around.

Wind blows the pollen away from the anthers of the plants.

And if it lands on the stigma of another plant of the same type, pollination happens.

So this is how pollination happens by wind.

Let's do a check of the learning we've just done so far.

So flowers can be pollinated by animals or by, a, wind, b, rain, c, fire? What do you think? Great, the answer is a, wind.

Do you know anyone who suffers from hayfever? This is caused by the pollen from the wind-pollinated plants in the air around them.

I've got lots of friends that suffer from hayfever, some of them quite badly actually.

And this is caused by the pollen from the wind-pollinated plants.

Flowers that are pollinated by wind are usually dull coloured and have no smell.

So quite opposite to the flowers that are pollinated by animals.

This is because they don't need to attract animals to pollinate them.

Which of these flowers is likely to be pollinated by wind? So based on the learning we've done today about pollination by animals and also pollination by wind, which of these flowers is likely to be pollinated by wind, a, b, or c? Look really carefully at what the different flowers look like.

Great job, the answer is b.

So we can see that a and c have very colourful petals, which means that's going to attract animals.

Whereas with b, we've learnt that flowers that are pollinated by wind don't need to be very brightly coloured and often they're coloured with dull colours.

So let's move on to the next task for our lesson today.

I would like you to create a plant that is pollinated either by animals or by wind.

So in our lesson today, we've looked at different living things and plants that are pollinated by animals, but also by the wind as well.

So we looked at them separately.

So draw a labelled diagram of your plants and explain the features that would help it to be pollinated.

If you need to, go back to the earlier slides from the lesson today to look at some examples of plants that are pollinated by animals, but also some examples that are pollinated by the wind.

Use those examples to help you to come up with your own one.

Pause the video here, have a go.

And I can't wait to see all of the different plants that you've come up with.

Off you go.

Great job, everyone, well done.

Sam says, "My plant is pollinated by animals.

Is it similar to yours or is it a little bit different?" So Sam here has annotated her diagram and her plant really well.

So she's annotated here the anther and the stigma.

And she's got sweet-smelling flowers to attract pollinators.

And she's got brightly coloured petals to attract pollinators.

And the petals are purple in the centre to guide pollinators past the anthers and stigma.

So we can see here that Sam's looked really carefully or thought in a lot of detail about the design of her plant.

Did you do a similar idea or did you have a different one? Maybe you can share your work with your partner.

Did you do similar ideas or did you have different ones? Well done for having a good go at this task, everyone.

So we've come towards the end of our lesson today.

So we're going to do a summary of our learning.

So our lesson today has been a huge focus on pollination, but how it can happen in two different ways, pollination by animals, but also pollination by wind.

So pollination is when pollen grains are transferred from the male anther to the female stigma of a flower.

And some flowers are pollinated by animals and some by wind.

And flowers pollinated by animals are usually colourful and nice smelling.

And remember, the reason that is is 'cause it's going to attract the pollinators.

And flowers pollinated by wind usually have small, dull-colored flowers and no smell.

So often flowers that are pollinated by animals are really bright coloured, they smell lovely and are really attractive to those pollinators.

Whereas the flowers pollinated by the wind often are quite dull and quite small and actually have no smell at all.

So next time you're out and about, maybe you're at the park, have a look at some of the flowers you can see.

Do you think those flowers would be pollinated by animals or do you think they'd be pollinated by the wind now that you know what to look out for? Now, a big well done to everybody.

You've worked incredibly hard in today's lesson and I'm really impressed with all the work that you have produced.

Have a great rest of the day and I'm sure I will see you in the next video really soon.

Bye-bye.