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7th grade · Science · Unit 4 of 8

How Plants Work

Roots, leaves, flowers and photosynthesis

What your child practices

The parts of seed plants and what they do, photosynthesis, gas exchange, transpiration and pollination, and how plant structures suit where a plant grows.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 7.L2U1.12 · how plant cells turn light energy into food energy

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Roots take in water, stems hold the plant up, leaves make food, flowers make seeds.
  2. Xylem carries water up from the roots. Phloem carries sugar from the leaves.
  3. Stomata are tiny leaf openings that let carbon dioxide in and oxygen and water vapor out.

Example: Which tubes carry water from the roots to the leaves? Phloem carries sugar. The water tubes are the other kind. Answer: xylem

How Plants Work in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 4 of 8 in 7th grade Science, after Our Senses and before Motion, Forces & Newton’s Laws.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Arizona Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Water moves from the soil into a root hair mostly by…

    • pollination
    • decomposition
    • photosynthesis
    • osmosis

  2. Question 2

    What is the main job of a plant's roots?

    • Anchor the plant and take in water and nutrients
    • Give off oxygen
    • Take in sunlight
    • Make seeds

  3. Question 3

    What does photosynthesis make?

    • Carbon dioxide and water
    • Soil and sugar
    • Sugar (food for the plant) and oxygen
    • Water and nitrogen

  4. Question 4

    Which tubes in a stem carry water up from the roots?

    • Phloem
    • Stomata
    • Xylem
    • Petals

  5. Question 5

    A student covers half of a green leaf with black paper for a week. What will she most likely find?

    • The covered part is paler because it got no light
    • The covered part made more sugar
    • The covered part is greener
    • The whole leaf has fallen off

  6. Question 6

    What happens during pollination?

    • A seed grows into a seedling
    • Roots take in water
    • Pollen is moved to the female part of a flower
    • Leaves make sugar

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