Year 6 Science: Plants
Part of the Year 6 Science classifying living things chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Plants
Plants are sorted by their characteristics, especially whether they make flowers and seeds.
- Flowering plants make flowers, and their seeds form inside fruits or seed pods.
- Conifers, such as pine trees, do not make flowers. They make seeds inside cones.
- Ferns and mosses do not make flowers or seeds. They reproduce using tiny cells called spores.
The table shows five plants and what each one makes.
| Plant | What it makes | Group |
|---|---|---|
| Oak tree | flowers and seeds (acorns) | flowering plant |
| Daisy | flowers and seeds | flowering plant |
| Pine tree | cones with seeds, no flowers | conifer |
| Fern | no flowers, no seeds; spores | fern |
| Moss | no flowers, no seeds; spores | moss |
Key ideas
- Flowering plants make flowers and seeds.
- Conifers make cones, and their seeds form inside the cones.
- Ferns and mosses make no flowers and no seeds; they reproduce with spores.
- Use flowers and seeds as the first characteristics when you sort plants.
Method. Find the plant that makes cones.
- Read the column. The pine tree makes cones with seeds inside.cones
- Write the name. So the plant that makes cones is the pine tree.Pine tree
- Write the answer. Pine tree
Check. Pine trees are conifers. ✓
Method. Find the plants that have no flowers and no seeds.
- Read the table. The fern and the moss both have no flowers and no seeds.no flowers, no seeds
- Write the names. So the two plants are the fern and the moss.Fern and Moss
- Write the answer. Fern and Moss
Check. Both reproduce using spores. ✓
Method. Check whether the daisy makes flowers.
- Read the table. The table says the daisy makes flowers and seeds.flowers and seeds
- Decide. Because it makes flowers, the daisy is a flowering plant.yes
- Write the answer. yes
Check. The oak tree also makes flowers and seeds. ✓
Watch out
Watch out: a tree is not always a flowering plant. A pine is a tree, but it makes cones, not flowers.
Exam tip
Exam tip. When you sort plants, look for flowers first, then seeds, cones or spores.
Try it (with your teacher, or a grown-up at home). Collect three different leaves from a garden or a park, with a grown-up's permission. Do not pick flowers or berries, and wash your hands. Sort the leaves into two groups: leaves from trees with flowers, and leaves from trees without flowers. Explain your reason.
Exercise 2B Plants
Method. Find the plant with cones.
- Read the table. The pine tree makes cones.cones
- Write the name. So the pine tree is the answer.Pine tree
- Write the answer. Pine tree
Check. Conifers make cones instead of flowers. ✓
Method. Find the plants that make flowers.
- Read the table. The oak tree and the daisy both make flowers and seeds.flowers and seeds
- Write the names. So the two flowering plants are the oak tree and the daisy.Oak tree and Daisy
- Write the answer. Oak tree and Daisy
Check. The pine, the fern and the moss do not make flowers. ✓
Method. Look at the last two rows of the table.
- Read the rows. The fern and the moss both have no flowers and no seeds.no flowers
- Write the names. So the answer is the fern and the moss.Fern and Moss
- Write the answer. Fern and Moss
Check. Both use spores to reproduce. ✓
Method. Look at the table.
- Read the table. The table says ferns and mosses make no flowers and no seeds.no seeds
- Decide. So the answer is no.no
- Write the answer. no
Check. Ferns and mosses reproduce using spores instead. ✓
Method. Read the table.
- Read the row for the pine tree. The pine makes cones with seeds, and no flowers.cones
- Write the answer. cones
Check. The seeds form inside the cones. ✓
Method. Read the characteristics of ferns and mosses.
- Read the idea. Ferns and mosses have no flowers or seeds, so they reproduce with spores.spores
- Write the answer. spores
Check. Spores are tiny cells that grow into new plants. ✓
Method. Count the rows that say flowers.
- Read the table. The oak tree and the daisy make flowers.two rows
- Count them. So there are two flowering plants.2
- Write the answer. 2
Check. The other three plants do not make flowers. ✓
Method. Use the characteristics of flowering plants.
- Read the clues. It makes flowers, and its seeds form inside fruit.flowers and fruit
- Name the group. A plant that makes flowers and seeds is a flowering plant.flowering plant
- Write the answer. flowering plant
Check. Flowers and seeds are the key characteristics. ✓
Method. Use the clues about flowers and cones.
- Read the clues. The plant has no flowers and makes cones.cones
- Name the group. Plants that make cones and no flowers are conifers.conifer
- Write the answer. conifer
Check. A pine tree is a conifer. ✓
Method. Look for the seeds in each row.
- Read each row. The oak tree, the daisy and the pine tree make seeds.three rows
- Count. The fern and the moss make no seeds.3
- Write the answer. 3
Check. Three plants make seeds: oak, daisy and pine. ✓
Method. Plan the sort.
- Choose the characteristic. Flowers are an observable characteristic.flowers
- Sort. Plants with flowers go in one group, and plants without flowers go in the other.two groups
- Write the answer. Accept any sentence that says you would first check each plant for flowers, and put plants that make flowers in one group.
Check. One characteristic can split plants into two groups. ✓
Method. Check the characteristic.
- Check the flowers. Mosses do not make flowers or seeds.no flowers
- Decide. Being green is shared by many plants, so it does not show a moss is a flowering plant.no
- Write the answer. Accept any answer that says no, because a moss does not make flowers; being green is not a flowering characteristic.
Check. Choose a specific characteristic, not a shared one. ✓
Method. Compare the two plants.
- Look at the daisy. The daisy makes flowers and seeds.flowers and seeds
- Look at the fern. The fern has no flowers and no seeds, and uses spores.spores
- Write the answer. Accept any sentence that says the daisy makes flowers and seeds, but the fern has no flowers or seeds and uses spores.
Check. The difference in flowers and seeds puts them in different groups. ✓