Today we are going to learn about the life cycle of plants and animals. First, we will start with the life cycle of plants. We will begin by going over the parts of a flower. Grab your books and lets get ready to learn!

There are several parts to a flower, like petal, stamen, anthers and more! A petal is a big, vividly colored petals that attracts insects. Plants also, have male and female parts like the stamen and the pistil. The stamen is the male part of the plant and the pistil is the female part. It is also called the "carpel". The sepal is outside of the petals and it protects the flower when it is closed.

Next, is the anther which makes pollen grains. The filament is a piece of the plant that supports the anther. The stigma is the part that gathers these pollen grains. Next, there is a piece called the style which allows the pollen to travel to the ovary. In the ovary, small seeds, "ovules" are made. Receptacles are pieces of plants that connect the flower to the plant's stem. Finally, the last piece of a plant is its pedicle which is a stem that holds up one flower. 

Now that you know about plants parts we can learn how about they reproduce which is called, pollination. This is when the pollen that is made on a flowers anther transfers to the stigma part of the plant. Flowers are pollinated either by the wind or insects. In some cases birds and even bats will help out with the pollinating of flowers!

Flowers pollinated by insects typically have vividly colored petals and have sweeter smelling nectar meant to draw in insects. These plants have flower grains and stigmas that are sticky, making the pollen stick to the insects.

Flowers that are pollinated by the wind typically have a green or sometimes duller color with no scents. These plants anthers are outside of the flowers and create a lot of pollen for the wind to carry to their stigmas.

Next, fertilization occurs when the pollen lands on the same type of plant and what is called a "pollen tube" is formed in the style and then down into the ovary. Then the male's reproductive cells, or "gametes" move to the ovary. They then join female gametes called "ovules". Once the ovules are fertilized, an embryo is formed which is protected by a "pod".  

The next step is when the seeds get spread out so they can turn into healthy plants. There are three ways that they can be spread which is through animal feces, the wind, and the water.

Finally, a seed is germinated. This means that it gets planted into the ground, it opens, and then it starts to grow. This stage is called germination. A seed must have soil that is well-kept, warm, and it must be able to get to water.