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7th grade · Science · Unit 6 of 10

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.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: MS-LS1-6 · plant structures and photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of 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 Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 6 of 10 in 7th grade Science, after Particles & Mixtures and before Chemical Reactions.

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: Maine 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

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

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

  2. Question 2

    What does the stem do?

    • Takes in carbon dioxide
    • Holds up the plant and carries water and food between roots and leaves
    • Only makes the flowers
    • Only stores seeds

  3. Question 3

    What does photosynthesis make?

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

  4. Question 4

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

    • pollination
    • osmosis
    • decomposition
    • photosynthesis

  5. Question 5

    On a hot, dry day, many plants close their stomata. What does this do?

    • Speeds up photosynthesis
    • Makes more roots grow
    • Lets more pollen in
    • Saves water, but slows photosynthesis

  6. Question 6

    After pollen reaches a flower and fertilizes it, what grows from the flower?

    • New roots
    • A bigger stem
    • Fruit with seeds inside
    • More chlorophyll

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