Why are there so many different kinds of flowers?

Why are there so many different kinds of flowers?
Lesson narration:
English Spanish
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DISCUSS: What happens to these two plants as time goes by?
What’s different about how they grow? What’s the same?
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DISCUSS:
Imagine you see these three restaurant signs for PIZZA.
Which restaurant would you go to? Why?
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DISCUSS: Can you think of any reason why bees visiting flowers might be GOOD for the plant?
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DISCUSS:
How many ways can you think of to move pollen from one flower to another?
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DISCUSS: If you were planting a garden with different kinds of flowers, what would your garden need for those flowers to be pollinated?
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Step
01/18
You’ll work with a partner.
Decide who will be Gardener A and who will be Gardener B.
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Step
02/18
Get your supplies.
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Step
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Gardener A: Cut along the thick, black line. Place the Card Station in
the center of the table. Both: Cut out all the Plant Cards.
You should have a total of 24 Plant Cards.
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04/18
Gardener A: Turn all 24 Plant Cards so they’re facedown on the table.
Gardener B: Shuffle all the Plant Cards and make one stack.
Place the shuffled Plant Cards facedown on the Card Station.
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Step
05/18
Gardener A: Cut out the Scorecards and the Bee Cards.
Gardener B: Shuffle the Bee Cards & place on the Card Station.
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Step
06/18
Both: Make sure all your game pieces are set up correctly.
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Step
07/18
Gardener A: Take a Plant Card & put it in your Plant Zone.
Gardener B: Take a Plant Card & put it in your Plant Zone.
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Step
08/18
Gardener A & Gardener B: Take another Plant Card.
Both: If the Plant Cards match, add them to your garden.
If they don’t match, keep them in the Plant Zone.
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Step
09/18
When you have plants in your garden, choose either a Plant Card or a
Bee Card. If the Bee Card pollinates plants in your garden, add the
Plant Cards to your basket. Keep the Bee Card in the Bee Zone.
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Step
10/18
Play the game. Look at the Rules sheet.
The game ends when you run out of Plant Cards and Bee Cards.
IMPORTANT: Don’t move any cards when the game ends!
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Step
11/18
During the winter every year when it gets very cold, all the adult
plants in your garden will die. The only way to grow plants next year
(Year 2) is if you have seeds. Look at your Tiny Garden. Discuss:
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Step
12/18
Set up for Year 2. Remove any Plant Cards that are NOT in your Fruit
& Seed Basket. Those cards will not be used in Year 2 of the game.
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Step
13/18
You get one point for each Plant Card in your Fruit & Seed Basket.
Write down your points on the Scorecard to see who wins for Year 1!
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Step
14/18
Gardener A: Shuffle ONLY the Plant Cards that were in the Fruit &
Seed Baskets. Gardener B: Shuffle all the Bee Cards. Place these on
the Card Station.
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Step
15/18
Play the game again! On your turn, choose a Plant Card or Bee Card.
Then, add plants to the garden, check your Bee Cards, pollinate Plant
Cards, & move them to your basket. Look at the Rules sheet.
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Step
16/18
You get one point for each Plant Card in your Fruit & Seed Basket.
Write down your points on the Scorecard to see who wins for Year 2!
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17/18
Discuss.
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Step
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If you removed all the Bee Cards from the game, you wouldn’t score
any points. But what about a REAL garden? Discuss. Answer question
#1 on your Scorecard.
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DISCUSS: How could smelling like garbage help the Corpse Flower?
Hint: can you think of any creature that actually LIKES trash or rotting meat?
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flower


1 of 15

the reproductive part of some plants that can make seeds
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fruit


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the part of a plant that contains seeds inside a covering, like tomatoes
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seed


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a part of a plant that can grow into a baby plant
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seedling


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a young plant that grows from a seed
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pollen


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a powder plants make that is involved in plant reproduction
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pollination


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the process of moving pollen from one part of a flower (the stamen) to another part of a flower (the stigma)
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pollinator


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a living thing that moves pollen from one part of a flower (the stamen) to another part of a flower (the stigma)
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nectar


8 of 15

a sugary liquid that plants make
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attract


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to pull toward
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reproduction


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a stage in the life cycle of living things when they have offspring
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offspring


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babies
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cycle


12 of 15

a set of events that repeats in the same order over and over
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life cycle


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the stages of life, including birth, growth, reproduction, and death
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life stage


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one of the steps of the life cycle
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pattern


15 of 15

something that happens again and again and again in a way that can be predicted
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Lesson narration:
English Spanish

Activity Prep

Print Prep
In this lesson, students discover that while there is great diversity among flowering plants, they all share similar life cycles. They all start from seeds, grow, and eventually reproduce through the process of pollination. In the activity, Future Flowers, students observe and predict how changes to the pollinators affect plant reproduction, which affects the life cycles of those plants.
Preview activity
Number of students:

I have a Mystery Pack

Future Flowers Rules Sheet printout 1 per pair
My Tiny Garden printout 2 per pair
Plant Cards & Card Station printout 1 per pair
Score Sheets & Bee Cards printout 1 per pair
Scissors
1 per student
Prep Instructions

We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students will need a partner to play the game.

Teacher Background

All the plants in the activity game are annuals, which means they die every winter and must be replanted every year from seed. We do not discuss annual versus perennial plant life cycles in this particular lesson.

Extend This Activity

In the extensions, we have another set of Plant Cards with different annual garden plants. Check out the Extensions for further instructions.

Exploration

17 mins

Hands-On Activity

35 mins

Wrap-Up

8 mins

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