Name:________________________

Date:____________Hour:_______

Plant Parts and Flowers Packet

The following is adapted from The Great Plant Escape at
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/gpe/index.html. Please read the text and answer the questions as you
read. Then complete the activities at the end to the packet when done reading. This packet is
due by ___________________________.

Plant Structure

Plants can be either herbaceous or woody.

Most herbaceous plants have stems that are
soft, green, and contain little woody tissue.
These plants are ones that die to the ground
each year. Woody plants are like trees, very
hard stems. Most annual and perennial Herbaceous
Woody Plant
flowers fall into this category along with plant
vegetables and houseplants.

1. What is the difference between herbaceous plants and woody plants?

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Plant Parts - Roots

Basic parts of most all plants are roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits,
and seeds.

The roots help provide support by anchoring the plant and absorbing
water and nutrients needed for growth. They can also store sugars and
carbohydrates that the plant uses to carry out other functions. Plants
can have either a taproot system (such as carrots) or a fibrous root
system (such as turf grass). Taproot systems have one large central
root while fibrous roots are many long thin roots that spread out over a
large area. In both cases, the roots are what carry the water and
nutrients needed for plants to grow.
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Date:____________Hour:_______

2. What is the difference between a tap root system and a fibrous root system.
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Plant Parts - Stems

Stems carry water and nutrients taken up by the roots to the leaves.
Then the food produced by the leaves moves to other parts of the
plant. The cells that do this work are called the xylem cells. They move
water. The phloem cells move the food. Stems also provide support for
the plant allowing the leaves to reach the sunlight that they need to
produce food. Where the leaves join the stem is called the node. The
space between the leaves and the stem is called the internode.

3. What are the places where the leaves connect to the stem called?
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4. What is the space between where the leaves connect to the stem called?
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5. What do the xylem cells transport in the stem?

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6. What do the phloem cells transport in the stem?

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Plant Parts - Leaves

Leaves are the food making factories of green plants. Leaves come in
many different shapes and sizes. Leaves can be simple. They are made
of a single leaf blade connected by a petiole to the stem. An oak leaf
or a maple leaf are examples. A compound leaf is a leaf made up of
separate leaflets attached by a petiole to the stem like an ash or a
locust.
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Date:____________Hour:_______

Leaves are made to catch light and have openings to allow water and air
to come and go. The outer surface of the leaf has a waxy coating called
a cuticle which protects the leaf. Veins carry water and nutrients within
the leaf.

7. Compare simple and compound leaves. How are they similar and different?
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Leaves are the site of the food making process called photosynthesis. In
this process, carbon dioxide and water in the presence of chlorophyll
(the green pigment) and light energy are changed into glucose (a sugar).
This energy rich sugar is the source of food used by most plants.

Photosynthesis is unique to green plants!

Photosynthesis supplies food for the plant and
oxygen for other forms of life.

A green plant helped make the oxygen you are

breathing today.

8. Write the equation for photosynthesis in the box below.

 Name:________________________
Date:____________Hour:_______

Flower Parts

Flowers are important in making seeds. Flowers can be made up of

different parts, but there are some parts that are basic equipment.
The main flower parts are the male part called the stamen and the
female part called the pistil.

The stamen has two parts:

anthers and filaments. The
anthers carry the pollen.
These are generally yellow in
color. Anthers are held up by
a thread-like part called a
filament.

The pistil has three parts: stigma,

style, and ovary. The stigma is the sticky surface at the top of the
pistil; it traps and holds the pollen. The style is the tube-like structure
that holds up the stigma. The style leads down to the ovary that
contains the ovules.

Other parts of the flower that are

important are the petals and sepals.
Petals attract pollinators and are
usually the reason why we buy and
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Date:____________Hour:_______

enjoy flowers. The sepals are the green petal-like parts at the base of
the flower. Sepals help protect the developing bud.

Flowers can have either all male parts, all female parts, or a
combination. Flowers with all male or all female parts are called
imperfect (cucumbers, pumpkin and melons). Flowers that have both male
and female parts are called perfect (roses, lilies, dandelion).

9. Label each part of the flower below with a short description of each parts
function on the lines below.

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2.____________________________________________________________________________

3.____________________________________________________________________________

4.____________________________________________________________________________

5.____________________________________________________________________________

6.____________________________________________________________________________

7.____________________________________________________________________________

8.____________________________________________________________________________

9.____________________________________________________________________________
 Name:________________________
Date:____________Hour:_______
10.___________________________________________________________________________

11.___________________________________________________________________________

Label the basic parts of a plant below and write a brief

description of what functions each part carries out for the
benefit of the whole plant.
 Name:________________________
Date:____________Hour:_______

Pollination

When pollination occurs, pollen moves from

the male parts to the female parts. Pollen
grains land on the stigma and a tiny tube
grows from it and down the style into the
ovary. The fertilized ovule becomes the seed
and the ovary becomes the fruit.

Since flowers can't move, they need to be able to attract pollinators or

be built so that wind is able to pollinate them. Flowers attract
pollinators like bees, butterflies, insects, and birds with sweet nectar,
bright colors, and shapes and structures. Some flowers open at special
times to attract pollinators such as night blooming plants that are
pollinated by bats.

10. Describe the process of pollination?

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11. What are some ways the pollen gets transported from one flower to another?
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Nonflowering Plants

Some plants don't produce flowers and seeds. Plants such as ferns and
mosses are called nonflowering plants and produce spores instead of
seeds. There is also another group called the Fungi, that include
mushrooms, and these also reproduce by spores. We often think of
these individuals as "non photosynthetic plants" when in fact they belong
to their very own group or kingdom.
 Name:________________________
Date:____________Hour:_______

Part 1: Match the name of each plant part with it's purpose.

1. ____ roots a. part of a plant that makes food

2. ____ stem b. part of a plant that makes seeds
3. ____ leaves c. part of a plant that soaks up water
and minerals
4. ____ flowers d. part of a plant used for support
and has tubes for carrying food,
minerals and water
5. ____ fruit e. part of a plant that holds and
protects seeds

Part 2: Match each vocabulary word with its definition.

6. ____ chlorophyll f. a green pigment that is found in

plants' leaves that help the plant
make food
7. ____ photosynthesis g. the type of food that plants make
in their leaves
8. ____ sugar h. the process that plants use to
make energy from sunlight
9. ____ oxygen i. the type of gas that plants need
for photosynthesis
10. ____ carbon dioxide j. the type of gas that is released
into the air after photosynthesis

Circle the correct answer to each question.

1. What part of a plant makes food?

a. leaves b. stem c. roots
2. This pigment turns a plant green and helps it to make food.
a. photosynthesis b. leaves c. chlorophyll
3. What is the purpose of a plant's flower?
a. store food b. make seeds c. make food
4. This plant part is made of tiny tubes for carrying water, minerals, and food.
a. petals b. roots c. stem
5. A plant's food is glucose. Another word for glucose is...
a. chlorophyll b. flour c. sugar
6. Which of these is NOT needed for photosynthesis?
a. chlorophyll b. sunlight c. oxygen
7. What gas do plants release into the air?
a. oxygen b. hydrogen c. carbon dioxide
8. This part of a plant soaks up water and minerals. It also stores food.
a. roots b. leaves c. flowers
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Date:____________Hour:_______

Plants Crossword

1 2

3 4

5 6

Across Down
1. Plants make their food 1. A kind of kingdom.
with this process. 2. Holds the beginning of a
3. A "transport system". new plant.
7. Plants need this gas for 3. Product of photosynthesis
photosynthesis. (along with oxygen).
8. Where most plants make 4. Plants produce this.
their food. 5. Source of energy.
6. Used by many plants to
take in water and minerals.
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Date:____________Hour:_______

Down
Across
2 The process by which plants and some bacteria use
1 A plant pigment that absorbs sunlight. (11)
the energy from sunlight to produce sugar. (14)
4 The links between the energy that carnivores get
3 Part of the plant where photosynthesis generally
from eating to the energy captured by
occurs. (6)
photosynthesis. (4,5)
5 A compound needed for photosynthesis. (5)
7 Chlorophyll absorbs every color of sunlight
except this. (5) 6 An animal that eats plants. (9)
8 A compound needed for photosynthesis. (6,7) 9 A by-product of photosynthesis. (6)
10 The product of photosynthesis. (5) 10 Number of molecules of oxygen produced along
with one molecule of sugar.(6)