Wind or insect pollination?
Teaching notes and answers
Our staple foods e.g. wheat and rice are wind pollinated. If we lost a large number of
insect pollinators we would still have plenty to eat but we would lose foods which
provide us with essential micro-nutrients, vitamins and minerals, antioxidants and
variety in our diet.
Although insect pollinated, most potatoes are reproduced asexually, from tubers.
Many fruits such as citrus fruits, bananas, figs, kiwi, coconuts can be self pollinated but
they produce more fruit if they are pollinated by insects.
Vegetables are largely insect pollinated.
insect pollinated
wind pollinated
apples, oil seed rape, strawberries,
almonds, raspberries, potatoes, tomatoes,
oranges
hazelnuts, wheat, rice, sweet corn, olives,
oats
Insect pollinated flowers;

have large, colourful petals

have anthers inside flower

have a short strong anther

stigma outside flower

be scented

produce nectar.
Wind pollinated flowers;

small petals

petals are not colourful

not scented

anthers loosely attached

anthers and stigma hang outside the flower

feathery like stigma.
© www.teachitscience.co.uk 2014
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Wind or insect pollination?
Task
1. Look at the pictures of the different flowers of important food plants. Put them
into two piles, insect pollinated flowers and wind pollinated flowers.
2. Write the names of the food plants into the correct columns in the table.
insect pollinated
wind pollinated
3. Draw a label a typical insect pollinated flower and a typical wind pollinated flower.
4. Write down three features the insect pollinated flowers have in common.
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5. Write down three features that the wind pollinated flowers have in common.
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