Year 4 Science: Grouping plants
Part of the Year 4 Science grouping living things chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Grouping plants
Plants can be grouped by whether they have flowers. Flowering plants have flowers, and most of them make seeds inside their flowers. Non-flowering plants do not have flowers. Ferns and mosses are non-flowering plants.
The table sorts four plants into two groups.
| Plant | Flowering or non-flowering? |
|---|---|
| Rose | flowering |
| Daisy | flowering |
| Fern | non-flowering |
| Moss | non-flowering |
Key ideas
- Plants can be grouped by whether they have flowers.
- Flowering plants have flowers, and make seeds in them.
- Ferns and mosses are non-flowering plants.
- A plant can be grouped by features, just like an animal.
Method. Look at the picture and the table.
- Look at the rose. A rose has flowers.flowers
- Decide. A plant that has flowers is a flowering plant, so the answer is yes.yes
- Write the answer. yes
Check. The table says the rose is a flowering plant. ✓
Method. Look at the picture and the table.
- Look at the fern. A fern has leaf-like fronds and no flowers.no flowers
- Decide. A plant with no flowers is not a flowering plant, so the answer is no.no
- Write the answer. no
Check. Ferns are non-flowering plants. ✓
Method. Count the non-flowering rows.
- Read the table. The non-flowering plants are the fern and the moss.fern and moss
- Count them. There are two non-flowering plants.2
- Write the answer. 2
Check. The other two plants in the table are flowering plants. ✓
Watch out
Watch out: a plant with green leaves is not always a flowering plant. Look for flowers before you decide.
Try it at home or school (with a grown-up). With a grown-up, look at two plants in a garden or park. Decide whether each one is a flowering or a non-flowering plant, and write the group next to each name. Do not pick flowers or touch unknown plants.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Ask: “Can you see any flowers? Which group does this plant belong to?” Let your child decide by looking, and never let them taste or touch an unknown plant.
Exercise 2D Grouping plants
Method. Look at the picture of the rose.
- Look at the picture. The rose has flowers.flowers
- Write the answer. yes
Check. The rose is a flowering plant. ✓
Method. Look at the picture of the fern.
- Look at the picture. The fern has fronds but no flowers.no flowers
- Write the answer. no
Check. Ferns are non-flowering plants. ✓
Method. Read the table in section 2.4.
- Read the table. The table lists rose, daisy, fern and moss.moss
- Find the moss. Moss is in the non-flowering row.Moss
- Write the answer. Moss
Check. Moss is a non-flowering plant. ✓
Method. Count the flowering rows in the table.
- Read the table. The flowering plants are the rose and the daisy.rose and daisy
- Count them. There are two flowering plants.2
- Write the answer. 2
Check. The other two are non-flowering. ✓
Method. Read the key idea in section 2.4.
- Read the key idea. Most flowering plants make seeds inside their flowers.seeds
- Write the answer. seeds
Check. Seeds grow into new plants. ✓
Method. Read the key idea in section 2.4.
- Read the key idea. Ferns and mosses are non-flowering plants.non-flowering
- Write the answer. false
Check. Ferns and mosses do not have flowers. ✓
Method. Count the non-flowering rows.
- Read the table. The non-flowering plants are the fern and the moss.fern and moss
- Count them. There are two non-flowering plants.2
- Write the answer. 2
Check. Two flowering and two non-flowering makes four plants. ✓
Method. Think about the daisy.
- Think about the flowers. A daisy has flowers, so it is a flowering plant.flowers
- Write the group. So the group is flowering.flowering
- Write the answer. flowering
Check. The daisy is in the flowering row of the table. ✓
Method. Look at each plant.
- Look at the rose and daisy. The rose and the daisy have flowers.have flowers
- Look at the fern. The fern has no flowers, so it is the one without flowers.fern
- Write the answer. fern
Check. Ferns are non-flowering plants. ✓
Method. Read the non-flowering rows.
- Read the rows. The non-flowering rows are fern and moss.fern and moss
- Write one name. Any one of these names is correct.one name
- Write the answer. Accept any one of: Fern, Moss.
Check. Both fern and moss are non-flowering plants. ✓
Method. Compare the two plants.
- Look at the rose. The rose has flowers, and makes seeds in them.flowers
- Look at the fern. The fern has no flowers.no flowers
- Write the answer. Accept any sentence that says a rose has flowers, but a fern does not, so they are in different groups.
Check. Flowers are the feature that separates the two groups. ✓
Method. Think about a question with a clear answer.
- Think about the groups. A good question has a yes or no answer for each plant.yes or no
- Write the question. Does it have flowers? is a question that sorts plants into two groups.Does it have flowers
- Write the answer. Accept any question that can be answered yes or no, such as: Does it have flowers?
Check. A yes or no question sorts each plant into one group. ✓