Lesson video

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

Let's begin.

Welcome to today's lesson from the unit, "Reproduction And Lifecycle: Plants." Your learning outcome is I can explain how plants are pollinated by animals and describe the common features of pollinators.

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 keywords for today along with the definition for those keywords.

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

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

Off you go.

Fabulous.

Well done.

So our lesson today is split into two parts.

Let's begin with the first part, pollination by animals.

So plants can reproduce in different ways.

Do you know the different ways that plants can produce offspring? Have a really good think.

I'll give you five seconds.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So flowering plants can reproduce by making seeds just like in these pictures.

For a flower to be able to make seeds, first, pollination has to happen.

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

So here we have the anther, and this here is the stigma.

Aisha says, "How does the pollen get from an anther of one flower to a stigma of another flower?" What do you think? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous.

Well done.

So before we go into that, let's do a quick check-in of your learning.

So what is pollination? Is it a, when pollen is formed by the anthers of flower, b, when pollen is used by animals to make honey, or c, when pollen from anther lands on the stigma of another flower? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous.

Well done.

The answer is c, when pollen from an anther lands on the stigma of another flower.

So some flowers are pollinated by the wind, and these types of flowers are very small and light pollen, which is blown from anthers by the wind.

And some of the pollen then lands on the stigmas of other flowers of the same type, causing pollination.

And the way that it sticks is because the stigma has a sticky substance on it.

So when the pollen lands on the stigma, the sticky substance makes it stick.

Now, many flowering plants are pollinated by animals and flowers make small amounts of nectar, which is a sugary liquid used as a food source for many animals.

And animals visit flowers seeking this sweet nectar.

And as they brush past the anthers of the flower to get to the nectar, pollen is rubbed off onto their bodies, just like in this picture here where we have a bee who is looking for that sweet, sugary liquid, the nectar, and it is covered in pollen.

Then when an animal visits another flower of the same type, some of the pollen on its body is rubbed off onto the sticky stigma, which now means that this flower has been pollinated.

And Sam says it's really kind of animals to pollinate plants.

Otherwise, lots of types of plants wouldn't be able to reproduce.

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

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So although it's useful for plants when animals pollinate them, the animals aren't actually doing it on purpose.

They are visiting flowers to find food for themselves, not to actually help the plants to reproduce, but both of the plants and the animals that pollinate them benefit from this relationship.

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

Animals pollinate plants because a, they want the flowers to survive and reproduce, so pollinate to help them out, b, they gather food from flowers and pollen is transported as they move around, or c, they know flowers can make seeds once they have been pollinated and they want to eat the seeds? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is B.

They gather food from flowers, so they especially want that nectar, that sweet nectar.

So they go to the flower to get that, and then they are covered in pollen and they transport it as they move around.

So remember, they are not doing it because they think that it is helping with the reproduction of flowers.

Now, Sam makes a model to help explain how pollination by animals work, and she puts some sweets into a cupcake case.

She says the cupcake case represents the flower and the sweets represent the nectar inside.

Then Sam adds cheese puff crisps to the top of her flower.

Can you work out what the cheese puff crisps might be? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So the crisps represent the anthers of the flower because they're covered in dusty flavouring, just like real anthers are covered in pollen.

And you know when you go to pick up one of these cheesy puffy crisps that your fingers get all covered in that dusty flavouring.

So Sam also draws some more flowers to visit on some kitchen roll and adds nectar to these, because pollinating animals usually visit many flowers at a time.

And Sam pretends to be a hungry animal.

She visits her first flower and reaches down past the anthers to get to the nectar underneath, and she notices her fingers are covered in pollen after she has done this.

Then Sam visits her other flowers picking up nectar as she goes, and she notices that pollen from the first flower has brushed off onto the other flowers as she collects more nectar.

They have been pollinated.

Now, which process does Sam's model help to explain? Is it a, seed dispersal, b, seed formation, c, germination, or d, pollination? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

The answer is d, pollination.

So here is your first task.

It says, explain how the model Sam used is the same as real pollination and explain the differences between Sam's model and real pollination.

So I'm going to give you some time now.

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

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So Sam's animal visited the flower for food and was covered in pollen while it was collecting nectar, the pollen was transferred from one flower to another flower.

So this is how it is the same as real pollination.

However, the differences are that Sam's flower model didn't have all the parts that a real flower has.

Real nectar is a liquid, unlike the sweets Sam used, and real pollen doesn't taste cheesy.

And Sam says, "Did you notice any of the similarities or differences?" So now we are onto the second part of our learning today, which is pollinators.

Now we call animals that pollinate flowers pollinators, and many flowers are pollinated by insects, including bees, butterflies, and beetles, just like in these pictures here.

So what is a pollinator? Is it a, a gardener who cares for plants, b, an animal that transfers pollen from one flower to another, or c, a special part of the plant that makes pollen? Again, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is b, an animal that transfers pollen from one flower to another.

Now, sunflowers are pollinated by birds, including hummingbirds and sunbirds, and flowers can also be pollinated by small mammals, including bats, honey possums, and elephant shoes.

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

True or false, pollination is only done by bees? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Fabulous.

The answer is false.

Now, why do you think this is? Again, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Well done, it's because as well as bees, lots of other insects can be pollinators as well as some birds and small mammals.

Can you see any features of these animals that make them good pollinators? So we've got a bat, a bee, and a butterfly.

I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer, but if you need a little bit longer, that's okay.

Just pop the video on pause and come back once you are ready.

Off you go.

Well done.

So many pollinators have furry bodies, which pollen easily sticks to.

So just like a bat and a bee, and lots of pollinators have wings, making it easy for them to quickly move from one flower to another.

This means that pollen can be spread across many flowers over a short space of time.

And it also means that the pollen is not going to fall off their bodies before they get to the next flower.

And some pollinators also have long noses, snouts, or beaks, which can easily become covered in pollen as they dig deep inside flowers to find the nectar.

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

Which features are often found on animals that are pollinators? Is it a, furry bodies, b, very smooth skin, c, long noses or beaks, d, wings, e, long tails? Again, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answers are a, c, and d.

So now we are on to the final task for today's lesson.

And it says, imagine you are a pollinator who has been busy collecting nectar from flowers.

I want you to write a diary entry explaining what has happened as you were collecting the nectar and how pollen was moved from flower to flower as you went about your day.

So here you can really pull on Sam's little experiment that she did with her cheesy crisps and her sweets.

Think about what happened to Sam as she was doing that.

Think about all of the learning that we've done today about what kind of animal is perfect to become a pollinator.

So having a strong beak, having a long beak, having a furry body, having wings so that it can fly quickly from one plant to another.

So thinking about all of those things that make a good pollinator and how pollination is done is really going to help you with this diary entry.

Now, if you need to, you can always pause the video, or you can rewind the video and you can watch again if there's any parts that you were a little bit unsure of.

And then have a go at writing this diary entry explaining what happened as you were collecting nectar and how the pollen has been moved from flower to flower as you go about your day.

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

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So, dear diary, today has been a very busy and messy day.

I flew straight to the nearest flower I could find as soon as I woke up.

Luckily, it was really easy to find because of its brightly coloured petals.

You'll never believe what happened as I delved deep into the flower to drink all the nectar.

I got covered in some dusty yellow stuff.

It stuck to my nose and my fur and made me look quite ridiculous.

I was still hungry, so I went to find another flower, and would you believe it, I picked up even more dusty stuff in this one too.

Luckily, some of it brushed off onto a sticky bit of the flower, but there was still lots stuck to me.

This kept happening all day with some of the dusty stuff rubbing off on each flower and more being added.

What a palaver.

So yours might have been similar to this diary entry.

So remember to read back and check that you have got all the necessary bits about your animal going over to flowers and being covered by all of the pollen and having to go from one flower to another, brushing it off and collecting more.

Well done.

So now we are onto the summary of our learning today, and it says, pollination is when pollen from a male anther lands on a female stigma.

Animals that pollinate plants are called pollinators.

Pollination is mostly done by insects, but some types of birds, bats, and other small mammals can also be pollinators.

Features, such as wings, hairy bodies, and long noses or beaks, mean pollinators move from flower to flower, taking pollen with them.

You have worked so hard today.

I'm really proud of your critical thinking.

You've thought really carefully about how animals pollinate flowers, and you've written a fantastic diary entry as well to explain it all.

Really, really proud of you.

Well done.