lesson
Some new plants grow without seeds
1 · Learn
Some plants can reproduce asexually, without male and female sex cells joining. A strawberry runner can form a new plant; a suitable cutting can grow roots.
The new plant is usually genetically very similar to the parent. Sexual reproduction mixes genetic information from sex cells. These are different routes to producing a new plant, not a claim that all plant pieces will grow.
2 · Worked example
An adult grows a suitable plant from a stem cutting. I distinguish it from growing a seed formed after sexual reproduction.
3 · Your turn
Does a strawberry runner need a seed at its growing end to make the new plant by the process described?
Check your answer
No. A new plant can form from the runner by asexual reproduction.
4 · Apply your learning
Observe an adult's safe cutting or runner over time and record changes. Compare with records of a seed-grown plant.
Adult guidance and safety
Adults choose non-toxic plants and handle cutting tools. Wash hands and do not promise every cutting will root.
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Check a calculation · Year 5 onward
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With an adult, look at a safe real example or a checked photograph. Name the example and say which you used. Record what you actually notice. Do not taste plants or materials, approach unknown animals or invent missing observations.
Ask your teacher for support with the method and recording. A prediction is what you think might happen; an observation is what you actually see, hear or feel safely.
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