F lo we r D isse ct ion

Driving Question: What are the parts of a flower, and what does a flower do for a plant?
Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that
NGSS
function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. [Clarification Statement:
Performance
Examples of structures could include thorns, stems, roots, colored petals, heart, stomach, lung,
expectation
brain, and skin.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to macroscopic structures within
4-LS1-1.
plant and animal systems.]

MT Science Content Standard 3Students, through the inquiry process, demonstrate knowledge of
characteristics, structures and function of living things, the process and diversity of life, and how living
organisms interact with each other and their environment.
Benchmark 1. (End of 4th grade)1. Identify that plants and animals have structures and systems
that serve different functions for growth, survival, and reproduction
Essential Learning Expectations (Grade 4)
A. Identify the parts of plants. (stem, root, leaf, flower)
B. Identify the parts of a flower (stamen, sepal, petal, pistil, pollen, ovule)
C. Illustrate and label a plant and its parts.
Objectives
In this investigation you will:
1. Sketch and dissect a flower, identifying and labeling all the parts.
2. Observe a pistil that has been dissected and make a labeled drawing of the ovary.
3. Predict and investigate if another flower contains the same parts, based on knowledge
learned during the first flower investigation
4. Determine a flowers role in the survival of a plant

5Es: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate

Engage:

With your lab partner, choose one of the tulips from the bouquet and take it back to your table. Open
your science notebook to a new page and carefully and accurately draw and color a sketch of your
flower. Have your flower drawing take up the whole page, but leave room on each side for labels.

Explore:

Using the flower parts handout sheet - identify the outside parts of the flower, noting how many there
are and in what pattern the outer parts are attached to the flower. Carefully remove, with your
fingers, only the outer ring of parts and place them in the outside ring of the ring diagram as you
remove them. Tape the parts to the paper.
Identify and remove the next ring of flower parts and place them in the next circle inward.

Continue on until all the parts of the flower have been identified and removed. Tape down all parts to
the ring diagram. EXCEPTION: DO NOT TAPE DOWN THE PISTIL. Set your flower dissection sheet aside
for now. You will tape down the parts of the pistil after it has been dissected.

Explain:

Read through the description below of the parts of the flower.

Outermost circle: sepals

2nd circle: petals
3rd circle: stamen
4th circle: pistil

Observe the sepals and petals. Sepals are usually green, leaf like parts at the base of the
flower, but sepals can also look very similar to petals. Sepals provide protection to the
bud. Petals are usually the brightly colored parts of a flower. Petals protect the delicate
structures inside the flower and may also attract insects. The sepal and petals are not
directly involved in reproduction and many flowers lack them.

Take a look at the stamen. This is the stalk-like structure with caps found on the inside
of the petals, or still attached to the stem. All parts that make up the stamen are
associated with a flowers male reproductive system. The stamen is made up of 2 parts:
the filament and the anther. The stalk portion of a stamen is the filament. It supports
the anther. The anther produces pollen grains that contain plant sperm.

Now focus on the pistil. The pistil is a slender stalk-like structure with a round base
connected to the stem. All parts that make up the pistil are associated with a flowers
female reproductive system. A detailed study of the pistil reveals that it is composed of
three parts: stigma, style and ovary. The stigma is the top portion of the pistil. It is
usually sticky. The stigma is the collecting place for pollen grains. The stalk of the pistil is

the style. The base of the pistil is the ovary, which may be partly hidden from view by
the sepals. The ovary contains ovules. The ovules are the eggs of plants.
In your science notebook, label your flower drawing, using the Flower Parts Drawing as a guide.
Now with the orange exacto knife, very, very carefully cut the pistil in half long ways. Place a few grains
of pollen from the anther and the cut-open pistil in a petri dish and take it, along with your science
notebook, to one of the microscopes. Observe the pollen and ovary of the pistil under magnification.
Draw and label the pollen grains and the ovary with ovules on the next page of your science notebook.
After observing the pistil, tape it to your flower dissection sheet.

Elaboration:

Predictions about different flowers

After you and your partner have completed dissecting and labeling the tulip, choose one of the other
types of flowers from the bouquet and bring it back to your table to investigate.
Examine the new flower and draw it carefully in your science notebook.
Your Prediction: Predict if the new flower has all the same flower parts as the lily. Write your
prediction down in your science notebook before beginning dissection.
Using a new Flower Dissection Sheet, repeat the dissection procedure with your new flower. When
complete, go back to your science notebook and label the flower parts in your drawing.
Evaluate the new flower to see if your prediction is correct. Make a note about that in your notebook.

Evaluation:

Class Discussion:
What does a flower do for a plant?
There are a lot of flowers in the springtime, and a fewer flowers in the fall. Why would a plant
put out flowers mostly in the springtime?
Review Questions: to be answered in class in your science notebook
1) Why are flowers important for a plant?

2) What is the pistils role? What is the stamens role? How do they work together for the benefit
of the plant?