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Course: Middle school biology - NGSS > Unit 2
Lesson 3: Plant reproductive successPlant reproductive success
Review your understanding of plant reproductive success in this free article aligned to NGSS standards.
Key points:
- A plant that has more surviving offspring typically has a higher reproductive success.
- Certain animal behaviors can help increase a plant’s reproductive success. For example, pollinators are animals that help flowering plants reproduce through pollination.
- When pollinators feed on flowers, they transfer pollen from male to female flower parts. This can lead to fertilization, and the production of new offspring for the plant.
- Many plants have special features to attract pollinators. For example, a flower’s scent may attract pollinators.
- Animals can also help with seed dispersal, or the movement of seeds away from a parent plant. Seed dispersal increases the chance that a seed will grow in an area with plenty of resources.
- Many plants have special features to help with seed dispersal. For example, some seeds have structures that help them stick to an animal’s fur. This allows the seeds to be carried to a new area.
Want to join the conversation?
- I'm so glad I'm contributing to nature, by blowing my share of dandelions in exchange for the small small price of a wish:)(78 votes)
- Haha, yes! A simple little thing like that spreads the wishes. And the seeds too, I guess. =)(7 votes)
- what happens if theres no more bees?(17 votes)
- A drastic effect on the amount of pollinators likely causing a mass extinction. (That is if they die off very quickly).(25 votes)
- I don't understand this part. May I please receive an explanation for this part?(10 votes)
- Plants reproduce by pollinators and by seed despersal which means that bees,bats,and other pollinators carry pollen from plant to plant, this causes plants to create offspring (or plant children) then they do seed despersal which is where the plants seeds get sent far away. Normally the seeds get blown far away, the seeds are carried by birds, and even humans can cause seed despersal. Does this explanation help?(27 votes)
- be serious does anyone like Khan Academy?(17 votes)
- Yes, I do.(12 votes)
- can insects help with pollination or seed dispersal(7 votes)
- Bees, wasps, butterflies, beetles, flies and moths can be pollinators. These aren't insects, but hummingbirds and bats can pollinate too. Pretty much any living creature that eats fruits with seeds in them can do seed dispersal as long as the seeds can survive going through their digestive system.(11 votes)
- What happens when one of the animals traveling the pollan get killed by another animal.(7 votes)
- Then the pollen would not get to a plant, making the pollen useless (unless some other thing carried the pollen to the plant after it fell)(7 votes)
- can plants undergo or go through asexual reproduction(7 votes)
- Actually, yes, some flowers do this, I can't remember which ones, but if I recall correctly, it has to do with the bulb plants, i.e., Garlic, crocus, and lilies. I could be wrong about which plants do, but yes, some plants are asexual.(4 votes)
- why do we need bees and they sting people and l now we need thing from bees but why?(2 votes)
- Bees don't intentionally harm you unless they feel threatened. Plus when they sting you their stinger gets stuck in that place and then when they fly away they quite literally get that half of their body ripped off so they die(5 votes)
- why would you poop the seeds for a papaya in the wild??(6 votes)
- The above video says that if you eat a watermelon or a papaya, the seeds will go down and grow into a new plant. What does he mean by that? If I eat watermelon, then I eat the seeds along with the watermelon, it will only go down my stomach, but if I eat papaya, I scoop the seeds out and throw it away, so I don't understand how it's supposed to go down anywhere but my stomach.(5 votes)
- Actually, it is very possible for a seed to head right down the toilet and straight to the sanitation plant where the solids are separated and applied as biosolids(fertilizer).
I have seen tomatoes and cucumbers and melons all growing in the fields where the biosolids are spread (also, at and around the facilities where they are processed)(2 votes)