LET’S FIND OUT PLANTS HOW PLANTS REPRODUCE JUDY SILVERSTEIN GRAY Britannica Educational Publishing IN ASSOCIATION WITH ROSEN EDUCATIONAL SERVICES
PLANTS ON OUR PLANET Plants are living things found in just about every place on Earth Like little factories they make their own food In fact they provide most of the food animals and humans eat They also provide the oxygen we breathe Plants start life as tiny plants Then they grow into adulthood and reproduce and later they die Botanists The life cycle of a carrot plant is two years During the second year it produces flowers and seeds 4
Vocabulary To reproduce is to make more living things of the same species to continue a species scientists who study plants classify plants by how they reproduce Plants make more of their kind either by seeds or by spores Seeds and spores are small structures that develop on plants and then fall off They then may grow into new plants Seeds are larger and more complex than spores Most plants begin from seeds and have roots stems and leaves The roots grow downward spreading out into the soil to soak up water and minerals They also anchor the plant in place The stem develops and grows holding the plant upright A nut is a dry hard fruit that contains one seed Many of the foods that people think of as nuts such as peanuts and almonds are not true nuts 5
