Focusing Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
What are the female and male parts of the flower, where pollination occurs?
What are some benefits and disadvantages of self and cross-pollination?
How do the pollen grains travel?
How are plants adapted for pollination to occur by the insects?
Fill in the gaps in the paragraph below:
brightly, carpels, coloured, female, four, fruit, fruit, insects, insects, insects, insects,
male, nectar, ovary, pollen, pollen, pollination, protected, rings, stamen, stigma, style,
wind, wind, wind, sexual
A flower is usually made up of f____ parts which are arranged in r_____ inside each
other.
The sepal is the outermost ring. It pr_____ the flower when it was in bud.
The petals of a plant are often b_______ c______ to attract in_____.
The stamens are the m____ parts of the plant which produce the yellow, dust-like
p_____.
The carpel is the f_____ part of the plant which produces the f______ once
p________ has taken place. A flower can be pollinated either by in_____ or by
w_______.
When a flower is pollinated by in_____ the in_____ go to feed on the n_____ of the
flower. They brush against the s______ and collect the p_______. Then they brush
against the c______ of the same or different flower and pass on the pollen that way.
When a flower is pollinated by w_______ the w_______ blows the pollen. In this case
the flowers usually have small or non-existent petals. The pollen reaches the carpel
at the place called the s______. It travels down the s______ until it reaches the
o_______ where a f_______ is formed.
Pollination is a form of s_______ reproduction.
The body parts of a Honey BEE are adapted to be an insect
pollinator
 Wings – allow the bee to move
between their food source and
hives.
 Hairs on Body – hold the sticky
pollen grains.
 Head - Eyes detect the colour
on the flower.
 Antennae detect the scent
from flowers.
 Sucking tube (mouth) collects the nectar.
 Hind Legs – they collect the pollen. The comb and brush remove
pollen from the body and pass it to the pollen basket on the
opposite leg. They then take this back to their hive.
The coloured petals signal a source of food. The bee pushes its body
deep into the flower and the pollen rubs off from the anther. The
bee then flies to another flower. The pollen is rubbed of its body
onto the stigma of the second flower: cross-pollination has occurred.
YOUR TASK: Conduct a simple research assignment on an insect
pollinator for home work. Ensure to include any body adaptations that
are required for the insects to be able to pollinate, also any reasons to
do with their lifestyle of why they happen to be pollinators. Could be
presented in poster, essay, or speech form.
Flower Research Table
The difference between
Wind and Insect pollinated flowers
Fill in this table by putting brief descriptions of the different parts of the
flower.
Pollinators
Insect
Wind
Name of plant/
Flower
Petals
Anthers
Pollen
Stigma
Fertilization
Definition
Fertilization is the fusion of the male and female gametes.

During the process of fertilization, the pollen lands on the stigma.

A tube grows down the style and enters the ovary.

Male sperm cells travel down the tube and join with the ovule, fertilizing
it.

The fertilized ovule becomes the seed and the ovary becomes the fruit.

The wall of the ovary changes becoming either hardened and dry, or
fleshy and succulent.

The female orgasm, sepals and petals wither away and may fall off.
Fertilizes ovules
Ovary swells as seed ripens
POLLINATION
Definition
Pollination is the transfer of the male
gametes (pollen grains) to the female
part of the plant (carpel).
This transfer can either be within the same flower (selfpollination) or from one plant to another (crosspollination).
Self-pollination
In self-pollination pollen is
transferred from the anther to
the stigma of the same plant.
This is very efficient as the pollen
doesn’t travel very far but doesn’t
allow much chance for genetic
variation.
Cross-pollination
In cross-pollination pollen is
transferred from anther to the
stigma of another plant of the
same species. It is very risky as the
pollen may not reach the other
plant but if it does succeed then it
offers greater genetic variation.