Agricultural Science (AS)·Crop science · NSSCAS 3.1d
Pollination, fertilisation & plant cell structure
Narrated lesson · press play
A farmer near Stampriet plants watermelons and maize side by side. When the flowers open, the watermelon field hums with bees while the maize field stands silent — yet both go on to make fruit and grain. How can that be? In this lesson we compare insect and wind pollination, follow the pollen tube to the beautiful trick of double fertilisation, watch a flower turn into a seed and a fruit, and then zoom right in to the plant cell and its tiny parts.
What you'll learn in this lesson
By the end you should be able to (NSSCAS Agricultural Science (AS) 3.1d):
- Describe insect pollination and wind pollination and give reasons for the two different types
- Compare the flower features of insect-pollinated and wind-pollinated plants
- Describe the importance of pollinators such as bees in crop production
- Explain how pesticides may harm pollinators and how a farmer can reduce that harm
- Describe the structure of a flower
- Explain double fertilisation in plants such as maize and beans, including the pollen tube, the two male gametes, the 2n zygote and the 3n endosperm
- Describe the structural changes after fertilisation that form the seed and the fruit
- Draw and describe the structure of a plant cell as seen under a light microscope
- Describe the ultrastructure of the cell membrane and the chloroplast as seen in an electron micrograph
Loading your lesson…
You're watching a free 3-minute preview — create a free account to keep going.