Parts of a Flower

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Flowers grow in many different places.

They can be different sizes, shapes, and colors. Think of some places you have seen beautiful flowers growing.

• Were the flowers big or small?
• Were there many flowers around it, or only a few?

Maybe it was all alone.

• Do you know any of the parts of a flower?

Look at the flowers below.

• What parts can you identify?

If you have a flower in your learning space, bring it close to you so you can identify the parts on a real flower!

The part that you probably already know is the petals. Count the petals on the flower below.

• How many are there?

• Did you say there are six petals?

Great counting! Flowers have many different types of petals.

The flower above is a dahila, and the flower below is a lily.

• How are their petals different?

You may have noticed that the petals on the dahlia are yellow, and there are many of them. You also may have said that the lily has folded, white petals.

All flowers have beautiful petals for one purpose, and that is to attract animals and insects! Insects and animals help transfer pollen from one flower to another. Pollen is what helps new flowers to grow!

• Do you know what part of the flower protects the petals?

This special part of the flower is called a sepal. The sepal is the part of the flower that protects the petals when the flower is first starting to bloom. It can be found hiding underneath the petals of an open flower.

The sepal is the small leaves growing beneath the petals. Use the flower in your learning space (if you have one) to find the sepal, or look at the picture below.

Remember, the sepal is found right underneath the petals and can be green or brown.

Beneath the sepal, you will find a receptacle. This part is very important! This is the part of the flower that holds all the other parts in place!

The receptacle is the thick part of the stem (stalk) where the sepal and petals are attached.

• Did you know flowers have male and female parts?

The male parts of the flower are called the stamens, and the female parts are called carpels.

• Have you ever touched a flower before?

Sometimes when you touch flowers, you may get a colorful, dust-like substance on your fingers. If this has happened to you, that means you touched the flower's stamen.

The dust-like substance you touched is pollen! Pollen can be found at the top of the stamen. This part is called the anther. The anther is held up by the filament. The pistil (carpel) is where the seeds of a flower can be found.

The top part of the carpel is called the stigma. The stigma is sticky. This part of the flower catches the pollen from the stamens.

After it catches the pollen, the pollen goes down the style (neck) and makes its way to the ovary where the pollen and the ovules become seeds.

Watch the videos below to see the process in action! You will see insects pollinating flowers, and the flower fertilization process. While watching the videos, identify parts of the flower you recognize.

Excellent work! You did a fantastic job learning about the parts of the flower.

Look at the picture below. Read each part of the flower aloud. (Ask for help if you need to.)

When you are finished naming the parts aloud, move on to the Got It? section to learn more about the parts of flowers.