What is a plant Plants are living things that can Leaves 1 Make new plants Plants may not have babies but they can make new plants that look just like them It’s called reproduction and most plants do this by making seeds Seed Stem Seeds grow into new plants which then make more seeds 2 Breathe Plants breathe air through tiny holes in their leaves 3 Get rid of waste Plants are useful because when they breathe they make a waste gas called oxygen it’s the gas we need to stay alive Thanks for giving me clean air to breathe We breathe in carbon dioxide from the air and breathe out oxygen 4
4 Use senses A plant may not have eyes but it can sense light and it can feel smell hear and 6 Get food Some plants eat bugs but most of them make their own food They use this to I’m a sticky sundew plant catching insects for my dinner 5 move Plants move their leaves to face the sun Seeds travel too Some of them are carried a long way on the wind I’m off to find a great place to grow into a new plant From little acorns mighty oaks can grow 7 grow Most plants even giant trees start their lives as seeds but they soon grow and change 5
Do plants get hungry Plants don’t feel hungry the same way that animals do but they do need food Animals eat their food but plants make all the food they need Sunlight Flowering plant Leaf Carbon dioxide in Plants use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide from the air into food This is called photosynthesis I can store the food I make in different parts of me and save it for the winter Flower Stem Oxygen out Why are leaves green Because they have a green substance called chlorophyll inside them This helps the plant collect the energy from sunlight and turn it into food Water is sucked up from the soil by a plant’s roots Roots also suck up minerals to help a plant grow 6
How do plants feed the world Plants are the beginning of most food chains This is when living things depend on each other for food Animals eat plants fruits vegetables nuts and seeds and some animals also eat other animals A food chain shows how energy and nutrients pass from one living thing to another I turn the sun’s energy into my food I get my energy from eating plants Eating small animals and plants gives me the energy to run and play Why do plants lose their leaves In the fall many leaves change color and fall off This is so the plant can store up water and energy over the winter and be ready to grow new leaves in the spring 7
