KS3 starter
The Redlove apple will be available to buy from
British supermarkets soon.
Why would supermarkets want to stock it?
© Snapshot Science, 2010
KS3 activity
People in Iran have been eating red-fleshed apples
from wild trees for centuries. The apples taste very
sour.
How did a grower produce apples that we would
want to eat?
Iranian small redfleshed apples that
taste very sour.
© Snapshot Science, 2010
Gala apples - large tasty
white-fleshed apples.
KS3 activity
If he breeds the two plants together then the
offspring will have a variety of their parent’s
characteristics.
To get the ideal red fleshed apple the grower must
breed together the best two offspring, and keep
repeating this over and over.
This is called
© Snapshot Science, 2010
selective breeding
KS3 activity
Growers can breed two different plants together by using cross-pollination.
First the grower must decide which plant is to produce the pollen (flower A)
and which will receive the pollen in its stigma (flower B). These must be
clearly marked, perhaps with different coloured thread or a tag.
The next step is to ensure that flower B is not fertilised by its own pollen
(self-pollination). Some growers remove the anthers (the male parts, which
produce pollen) with tweezers. They may need a magnifying glass to do
this. To prevent fertilisation from another flower growers tie up the petals of
the flower with a piece of string or put a polythene bag over the flower to
protect the stigma.
To cross pollinate the grower rubs a paint brush over the anthers of flower A.
They then remove the protector from flower B and rub the pollen over its
stigma. Hopefully fertilisation will happen and a new plant is made (a
mixture of the characteristics from both plants).
© Snapshot Science, 2010
KS3 activity
Your task is to write an article for Plant Growers
Weekly about how selective breeding was used to
develop the Redlove apple.
You need to explain:



Why selective breeding was used
How it was carried it out
Why it took 20 years
© Snapshot Science, 2010