How Seeds Grow — Biology (Grade 7)

Define and explain How Seeds Grow in your own words
Use key terms such as seed dispersal accurately
Apply what you have learned to new examples and questions
Avoid the common mistakes learners make with this topic

This lesson focuses on How Seeds Grow: follow germination as a seed sprouts roots and shoots and becomes a new plant.

Definition: How Seeds Grow

Follow germination as a seed sprouts roots and shoots and becomes a new plant.

Key ideas

The jobs of plant parts

Roots anchor the plant and take in water and minerals. The stem holds the plant upright and carries water up to the leaves. Leaves are the food factories where photosynthesis happens. Flowers make seeds so new plants can grow. Each part has a job, and the plant suffers if any part is damaged.

What plants need

Plants need light, water, warmth and air to grow well. Without enough light, stems grow tall, pale and weak as they stretch towards it. Without enough water, leaves droop and wilt. Gardeners test one need at a time, keeping everything else the same, so they know exactly what makes the difference.

Key term — seed dispersal: The scattering of seeds away from the parent plant, for example by wind, animals or bursting pods, so new plants have space to grow.

Worked example: How Seeds Grow

What happens during germination?

The seed starts to grow: the root emerges first to absorb water, then the shoot grows upwards towards the light.

Answer: The seed starts to grow: the root emerges first to absorb water, then the shoot grows upwards towards the light.

Common mistakes

Forgetting that roots grow first During germination the root appears before the shoot, so the young plant can absorb water straight away.
Thinking flowers are just for decoration Flowers have a vital job: they produce the seeds that grow into the next generation of plants.

Practice

Name the four main parts of a flowering plant.

One is underground, one holds the plant up.

Roots, stem, leaves and flower.

What is the job of the roots?

Think about water and holding on.

Roots anchor the plant in the soil and absorb water and minerals.

List three things a plant needs to grow healthily.

Light is one of them.

Any three of: light, water, warmth, air (carbon dioxide).

In the fair test example, why must both plants get the same amount of water?

What would happen if only one got water?

So that water cannot explain any difference in growth. If only one plant were watered, you would not know whether light or water caused the result.

Quick check

How Seeds Grow — quick check

Which of these best defines "seed dispersal"?

The scattering of seeds away from the parent plant, for example by wind, animals or bursting pods, so new plants have space to grow.

Why are green plants called producers?

Because they produce their own food by photosynthesis, so they are the starting point of food chains.

Key takeaways

How Seeds Grow: follow germination as a seed sprouts roots and shoots and becomes a new plant.
The jobs of plant parts: Roots anchor the plant and take in water and minerals.
germination: The start of growth from a seed, when the root and shoot first emerge.
Watch out for: forgetting that roots grow first

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