How Pollination Works
Click on the image tags to learn how pollination works
What is Pollination?
Pollen and Pollination
Flower pollen are the powdery yellow grains made by the male part of the plant (anthers). Pollen from one flower must reach the same kind of flower in order for pollination to occur. When pollen reaches the female part of the other flower (stigma) pollination is complete. Pollination is the first step needed for a plant to make seeds and fruit. This is how flowering plants reproduce or make the next generation of plants.
How Pollen Travels
Wind can carry pollen from one flower to another, but almost 90% of all flowering plants are pollinated by animals.
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Animal Workers
Animals don't help plants because they are just being kind. Animals that pollinate are searching for food from plants. Sweet sugary nectar and protein-rich pollen are food for many animal pollinators. In fact, the relationship between pollinators and plants has developed slowly over time. For example, butterflies have long tongues (proboscis) to reach deep inside tube-like flowers. Both the flower and the butterfly benefit from this relationship. They both win!!!
Pollination Videos
Pollinators
Many types of animals act as pollinators or animals that pollinate flowering plants. There are over 200,000 known pollinators and include bees, beetles, flies, hummingbirds, wasps, bats, butterflies, moths, ants, mice, and much more.
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Why Should We Care about Pollinators?
Without pollinators, most flowering plants would not be able to reproduce or make new plants. So, why is this important?
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90% of all flowering plants rely on animals for pollination
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About 1,000 plants are grown for food, drinks, spices, fiber and medicine and depend on animal pollinators
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Common flowering plants we grow that need pollinators include bananas, apples, almonds, melons, tomatoes, potatoes, and cocoa plants (think chocolate)
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1/3 of our crops need pollinators, or 1 out of every 3 bites of food you take
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Pollinators are responsible for $18.9 billion (that's $18,900,000,000!) worth of crops every year in the U.S.
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Without the work of pollinators, many other animals would not have the shelter and food they need to survive
Instructions
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Read the text above and watch the two videos. Be sure to take notes on the process of pollination.
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Go to Google Classroom and open Google Drawings.
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Create a Google Drawing and explain the steps of pollination using the information you learned.
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Include photos of flowers being pollinated and pollinators at work.
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Be sure to include the following vocabulary words in your project and explain what they mean in your own words: pollen, pollinator, pollination, reproduce, seeds, fruit.
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When you are done, save your Google Drawing as a .pdf file and upload it to the Junior Pollinator: Pollination Project below.
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Read your classmates' work and comment on at least two examples.