Flowers and Plants
Grade Level: 7-10

Summary: In this lesson, students will look carefully at flowering plants. They will study basic Mendellian heredity in the light of flowering plants and they will learn how seed savers work to save diversity. Finally, they will compare scenarios in which genetically diverse fields and fields planted with GMOs undergo various natural challenges.

View the Lesson Plans for this Unit
View the Content Standards

Download Related Documents:
Student Instructions: Seed Savers and Genetic Inheritance
Student Instructions: Biodiversity and the Future of Flowering Plants

Activity 1:
Plant Classificaiton
Students will learn to identify and classify different physical features of flowers.

Featured video clips in this activity:

Appalachian Cove, South Carolina - Spring Flowers Flowering plants attract pollinators with their brightly-colored petals, as well as with other methods.

Activity 2:

Seed Savers and Genetic Inheritance
Students are introduced to the concept of Mendelian inheritance and use a Punnett square to study the process of heredity.

Featured video clips in this activity:

Seed Saver In order to maintain genetic diversity among food, plants and flowers, many conscientious people are saving seeds.

Activity 3:

Biodiversity and the Future of Flowering Plants
In this activity, students will use their knowledge of heredity in plants to study the effect of monocultures and genetically modified organisms on biodiversity.

Featured video clips in this activity:

Wildflowers at Mammoth Cave - Part 1 A naturalist who began studying flowers as a hobby has documented over 300 species of plants and flowers at Kentucky's famous Mammoth Cave.