Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Mehrin, and I'm looking forward to learning with you today all about plant adaptations.

Let's begin.

Welcome to today's lesson from the unit, Evolution and Inheritance.

Your learning outcome today is I can describe some adaptations in a range of plants.

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 learn lots of fabulous new things.

So here are your five key words for today's lesson.

Now, you don't need to stop or pause this video to write them down, unless you find that it does help you to have them written down, because I am going to be going over these words throughout today's lesson.

So if you do feel it helps you to have them jotted down, that's fine, you can pause the video here, and do that now.

Fabulous, well done.

And here are the definitions for those keywords.

Again, I am going to be referring to these throughout today's video, so you don't need to pause the video and write them down unless it helps you to do so.

So if you find that it is beneficial for you to have them written down, you may pause the video now, and have a go at doing that.

Fabulous, well done.

So our lesson is split into two parts.

Let's begin with the first part, plant adaptations.

So Jun has been looking at the fruit and vegetables he bought at the supermarket.

And he says, "Why has my pineapple come from Costa Rica? Wouldn't it be easier to grow them here in the UK?" What do you think? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Fantastic, well done, let's find out.

So just like animals, plants have special features or adaptations that help them to survive, live, and grow in their habitats.

Now, adaptations are passed from one generation of a species to another, and it can take many years for plant adaptations to develop just like animal adaptations.

Now, pineapple plants are adapted to survive in very hot environments, so they would not grow well in the UK with its more temperate climate, because as we know, even in the summer when it does get hot, we still have days where it's milder, where it's cooler.

Whereas, pineapples need that constant heat in order to grow.

Now, what is the name for the special features that plants have that help them to survive in their habitats? Is it A, adaptations, B, attributes, or C, characteristics? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous, well done, the answer is adaptations.

And that is the same for animals as well who need to adapt to help them to survive in their habitat.

Now, adaptations are physical changes that, A, plants go through in their lifetime, B, plants decide to make, or C, are passed on from one generation of a plant species to another? Again, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Fabulous, the answer is C.

Now, different plants have different adaptations based on the habitats they live in.

Plants that live in very dry environments have adaptations to help them gather and conserve water.

For example, cacti.

Now, cacti have roots that spread far and wide to absorb as much water as possible, because they need to try and find water from wherever they can.

And their large, thick stems can store water.

They have a thick, waxy outer layer to reduce the amount of water lost through their exterior, because they are mainly found in the deserts, where it's very, very hot.

You would expect that water to evaporate.

So that's why they have that thick, waxy outer layer that's going to stop too much water being lost, and they can then conserve that water.

Now, plants that live in very cold environments have adaptations to help them keep warm.

So cotton grass grows low to the ground and is very short, so that in winter, snow cover helps to shield it from the extreme cold above.

Arctic poppies have hairy stems to retain heat.

Now, both cotton grass and arctic poppies also have very small flowers to reduce the heat loss.

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

Which of these adaptations would help a plant growing in a very cold habitat to survive? Is it A, growing very tall, B, growing low and close to the ground, or C, having very large leaves and flowers? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous, well done, the answer is B.

Now, plants need nutrients to grow well, and these are often gathered from the soil.

So in tropical rainforests, there are a huge number of plants competing for resources from the soil so there's often not enough nutrients to go around.

In habitats like this, some plants have very clever adaptations to ensure they get enough nutrients.

Now, venus fly traps and pitcher plants are both carnivorous plants, which catch small animals, like insects, to ensure they get enough nutrients when the soil doesn't provide enough.

Creatures are tempted towards the plant by the smell of sweet nectar before they are trapped inside and digested for nutrients.

Now, in tropical rainforests, plants are also competing with each other for sunlight.

And here, we have a picture of an elephant ear plant.

Now, I wonder why that is called an elephant ear plant.

I think it's because the leaves are shaped quite similar to an elephant's ear and pointing downwards as well.

Now, lots of plants growing in these habitats have large, flat leaves to capture as much light as possible.

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

Which plant has leaves that are the best adapted for living in a habitat crowded with lots of other plants? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous, the answer is C.

Lots of flowering plants have adaptations that help pollinators find them.

They release sweet scents so they can be smelled from far away, and many have brightly coloured flowers to draw attention to themselves.

Now, many plants have seed adaptations to ensure they will end up somewhere they can germinate and grow.

So it's important that a plant seed travels away from the parent plant, so they don't end up competing for water, light, and nutrients.

And Sofia says, "I remember learning about seed dispersal when I was younger." Now, can you remember any of the ways different plants disperse their seeds? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous, well done, let's have a look.

So plants grow seeds and fruits that are adapted to different methods of dispersal, including by wind, water, animal, and explosion.

Now, can you see how each plant's seeds are adapted for different methods of dispersal? So here, we have wind-dispersed seeds, and you might see lots of these growing.

You've got animal-dispersed seeds and water-dispersed seeds, like this coconut here.

Now, why do plants have adaptations that attract pollinators and allow them to disperse seeds? Is it A, so they can make their own food, B, so they can find water, C, so they can gather lots of sunlight, or D, so that they can reproduce successfully? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous, well done, the answer is D.

Now, here is your first activity.

It says, "Explain why each adaptation would help the plant to survive and reproduce in its habitat." So number one, wild banana plant.

The habitat is a tropical rainforest, and the adaptations are large, sweet-smelling flowers, large flat leaves, and seeds inside bananas.

So I need to explain why each adaptation would help the plant to survive and reproduce in its habitat.

So let's begin with this first one.

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

Off you go.

Fabulous, well done.

Now, let's do this one, the sundew plant.

So its habitat is boggy conditions with poor quality soil.

The adaptations are sticky tentacles on leaves to capture insects, brightly coloured flowers, and leaves close to the ground, but flowers on the long stems. I'd like you to post video here, and have a go at this activity.

Off you go.

Fabulous, well done.

Now, the wild banana plant, its large, brightly coloured flowers will attract pollinators to pollinate the plant, and allow it to reproduce.

Large, flat leaves help the plant to capture lots of sunlight, and animals will eat the bananas and disperse the seeds through their droppings.

And the sundew plant, sticky tentacles on leaves to capture insects will help the plant to get the nutrients it can't get from the poor soil it grows in.

Brightly coloured flowers help to attract pollinators so the plant can reproduce.

Having flowers on long stems far away from the sticky leaves will stop the pollinating insects that can fly, from becoming stuck.

Now we are on to the second part of our learning, which is adaptations for self-defense.

Now, some children are talking about plant adaptations.

And Laura says, "Do plants have adaptations to help them stay safe from being eaten like animals do?" And Alex says, "I don't think so.

They can't run away from hungry animals." Now, what do you think? Do you think plants have adaptations to help them stay safe from being eaten like animals do? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous, well done.

So, many plants have different adaptations to prevent them from becoming a meal for a hungry animal.

Now, some plants taste or smell terrible to put animals off eating them, or to warn them that they are poisonous.

Now, cows will avoid eating buttercups in a field because their terrible taste is a warning that they can cause blisters if eaten.

Now, here we have buttercups growing near cows.

Now, some plants have adaptations that can injure anything that tries eating them.

So for example, spines, thorns, and prickles can deter hungry animals from eating plants or their fruits.

And here, we have some examples.

Now, spines on cacti are especially useful for protecting their water-filled stems from thirsty animals.

Now, have you ever been stung by a nettle? I'll give you five seconds.

Have a look at this picture and see if you can remember if you've ever been stung by a nettle.

Off you go.

Fabulous.

Now, these plants have tiny hairs on their leaves which inject substances into the surface of your skin that cause it to sting, even long after you've stopped touching the nettle.

And it can cause itching, as well.

Now, onions are well known for making us cry when we chop them.

And this is another self-defense adaptation.

Now, when onions are cut or bitten into, they release chemicals that cause our eyes to become irritated.

And when they are growing in the ground, this helps to stop hungry creatures, like worms and woodlice, feasting on onion bulbs.

Now, I'm sure you've all tried different hacks to try and stop yourself from crying when you chop onions.

Now, some of the most popular ones are things like holding a wooden spoon in your mouth as you're trying to chop them, but I always find that it kind of gets in the way.

So one of the best things that I found helps is to keep the root on your onion whilst you're chopping it, because the root has most of the enzymes that makes us cry.

So maybe try that next time and see if it works.

So the Mimosa pudica plant has a really unusual but effective adaptation for self-defense.

When touched, this plant curls up its leaves to play dead and seems less appealing to passing herbivores.

Now interestingly, another name for this is the sleepy plant, and the sudden movement may also startle the animals and scare them away.

Now, which of these adaptations would not help to prevent a plant being eaten? Is it A, being poisonous, B, having prickles, C, having brightly coloured flowers, or D, smelling bad? So which of these adaptations would not help it from being eaten? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous, well done.

It's C, brightly coloured flowers.

Now, here is task B.

It says, "Choose one of the habitats and design a plant that has adaptations that will help it to stay alive in that habitat.

Draw a diagram of your plant and add labels to explain its adaptations.

Think about how it will gather the sunlight, water, and nutrients it needs, reproduce, and protect itself from predators." So here's your first habitat.

It's a forest swamp.

So the conditions are poor quality soil, many insects, warm weather, but very little sunlight.

Habitat two is a savanna.

So the conditions are sunny, windy weather, lots of grazing mammals, and little rain.

So you're going to choose one of these two habitats.

So either this one or this one to complete this activity here.

So I want you to pause the video now, and have a go at doing that.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

So your task was to choose one of these two habitats, and then create a plant that would be suited to these habitats.

So Jacob says, "Here's my work.

Is it similar to yours?" So he's gone for a swamp plant.

So he's chosen habitat number one.

So the seeds are dispersed by animals in tasty berries.

They have jaws for catching insects for extra nutrients because remember, the nutrients in the soil are not great, so they need to find their nutrients from somewhere else.

It climbs the trunk of other plants to stay out of the boggy soil and reach more sunlight.

And it has large, flat leaves to gather lots of sunlight because it's quite dark in there.

Aisha says, "I created a plant for the desert habitat.

Does it have any of the same adaptations as yours?" So she's done one for the savanna.

It's called the savanna plant.

So it has a thick trunk for storing water because that's really important because there's not a lot of water at all, bright flowers to attract pollinating insects, but then it has thorns for protection from animals because it's in a place where there's not a lot of water and it can store water in its trunk.

It needs something to stop animals from coming and drinking that or taking away some of that water from that plant.

The seeds are dispersed by the wind.

It has fluffy tops and it's very small and light, so it can be carried by the wind.

The roots taste bitter so they don't get eaten by burrowing animals.

And the roots spread wide to gather as much water as possible.

Now we are on to the summary of your learning for today.

Plants have special features, or adaptations, that help them to survive, live, and grow in their habitats.

Adaptations are passed from one generation of a species to another, and plant adaptations can help them to reproduce and to protect them from being eaten.

You have worked really hard today.

I'm so proud of your fantastic learning and your hard work, so well done.