What are plants?
Plants are living things that grow in soil and need water, sunlight and air to survive.
Plants grow all over the world, in our gardens and in the wild.
They can be big, like trees, or small and colourful like wild flowers.
Both trees and flowers are types of plants.
Watch – Finding plants outside
Anna: Plants are found all around us. Some are planted in gardens. But look, here are plants growing wild in a footpath.
We're going to learn how we can identify and name different plants. And we start by asking questions. Where is it growing?
Is it in a light place?
A shady place? A wet place? And in a dry place? And if it flowers, which season does it flower in? In winter we could see snowdrops. In spring, we could see daffodils. If you see honeysuckle, it will be summer. And in the autumn ivy produces flowers. You could ask other questions. How is it growing? Does it climb or is it bushy?
What colour is it? Let's go and explore and see what plants we can find. I wonder what this tree is? It has a wide trunk with thick, rough and grooved bark that's dark in colour. Its leaves have rounded lobes, but since they've fallen off, it means it's a deciduous tree.
It has acorns too. I think it must be an oak tree. Look, it matches the picture on our sheet. What is this flower? It has long yellow petals and lots of seeds in the middle. This one matches the sunflower on our activity sheet, so it must be a sunflower. Now it's your go. What plants can you spot?
Have a look at the different plants we can find outside.
My mum wants me to water the flowers for her.
She says flowers but they're actually plants. Flowers are just the pretty heads.
I'm going to have a hunt for other plants we can find. Let's go!
This is a spruce tree. All trees are plants. Some plants stay green all year round. These are called evergreens, and they make good Christmas trees.
But some change loads throughout the seasons, like this oak tree.
The acorns and conkers that these trees drop are seeds and squirrels love them!
My mum and dad hate weeds invading their garden, but I really like them. They're all plants too!
Did you know that even grass is a plant. I always forget that. It’s everywhere!
When you think about it, loads of things are plants. Weeds, flowers, trees, grass…
Have a look next time you’re out and about to see what plants you can spot.
Fascinating flowery facts
All plants are living things.
The tulip is the national flower of the Netherlands.
Sunflowers can grow up to four metres tall.
Wild flower meadows could have as many as 40 different wild flower species.
Some deciduous trees, like cherry trees, grow beautiful flowers in the spring.
Evergreen trees keep their leaves all year round.
Evergreen trees can be found on every continent except Antarctica.
A single strawberry has around 200 seeds.
Wild plants, garden plants and trees
Wild plants
Wild plants are plants that grow in the countryside or places where they are not purposely planted by humans.
They can be found in fields, forests, meadows and even in our gardens without us having planted them. Bluebells are a type of wildflower that grow in woodlands.
Garden plants
Garden plants are planted deliberately by people in gardens, and parks, to look or smell nice. These are often flowering plants like tulips, daffodils and sunflowers.
Trees
Deciduous trees are a type of tree that goes through changes with the seasons.
In autumn, the leaves of deciduous trees change colour and fall off. During winter, they have no leaves at all. Then in spring new leaves begin to grow again. Ash, oak, sycamore, horse chestnut and willow are all types of deciduous trees.
Evergreen trees are a special type of tree that keeps their leaves or needles all year round and throughout each season. Spruce trees are a type of evergreen tree.
Different types of wild and garden plants
Image caption, Tulips
Tulips are garden plants that can be planted in a flower bed. They come in many different colours.
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Did you know?
Wild flowers give pollinators like bees and butterflies food to survive in every season.
Honey bees collect nectar and pollen from flowers and store it in their hive.
Bees turn the nectar into honey, and use the pollen to make a food called bee bread.
Important words
Deciduous trees – Deciduous trees are a type of tree that goes through changes with the seasons. Most deciduous trees lose their leaves in the autumn and grown new leaves in spring.
Evergreen trees – Evergreen trees are a special type of tree that keeps their leaves or needles all year round, and throughout every season.
Garden plants – Garden plants are planted and arranged in gardens and in parks, to look or to smell nice.
Plants – Plants are living things that grow in soil and which need water, sunlight and air to survive.
Pollinators – An insect that carries pollen from a flowering plant, like bees, wasps, moths and butterflies.
Seeds – Plants make seeds which are then distributed and grow into new plants.
Species - Animals or plants of the same kind.
Weed - A plant that is growing where it is not wanted.
Wild flowers – A flower that grows without being planted by humans in the wild. The UK has around 1600 species of wild flowers.
Wild plants – Wild plants are plants that grow in the countryside or in places where they are not purposely planted by humans. A gardener might think of them as weeds!
Activities
Activity 1 – Find and identify the plants
Activity 2 – Quiz
Activity 3 – Sort the plants
Easter Holidays Activity Pack activity
Check out some Easter inspired activities to complete in the Easter Holidays, for KS1.
More on Plants
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