Parts of a plant diagram

What this diagram shows

Most plants children meet, from dandelions to sunflowers to tomato plants, are flowering plants with the same four main parts: roots, a stem, leaves and flowers. This diagram draws one simple flowering plant and lets a child explore it three ways. In Explore, tapping a part shows its name and one short fact. Labels writes every name on the picture at once. Quiz me names a part, the child taps it, and a round ends with a score.

• Roots hold the plant in the ground and take in water and minerals from the soil.
• The stem holds the plant up and carries water up to the leaves and food around the plant.
• Leaves use light to make food for the plant. This is called photosynthesis.
• Flowers make seeds, often with the help of insects that carry pollen between flowers.

Common misconceptions

Many children believe plants take their food from the soil, the way we eat. In fact, plants make their own food in their leaves using sunlight, water and carbon dioxide from the air. The soil provides water and small amounts of minerals, but most of a tree's mass comes from the air and water, not the ground. This surprises adults too, so it is worth saying plainly.

Other common mix-ups: thinking that only brightly colored things count as flowers (grasses and many trees have small, plain flowers), that a tree is not a plant, or that roots are always underground and only there to drink. Roots also anchor the plant so wind and rain do not wash it away.

Where this fits in school

• England, Year 1: pupils identify and describe the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including trees.
• England, Year 3: pupils describe the functions of roots, stem or trunk, leaves and flowers, and investigate how water is transported in plants.
• US, grades 1 to 4: elementary units look at how plant parts help a plant survive and grow. NGSS 4-LS1-1 asks students to argue that plants and animals have structures that support survival, growth and reproduction.
• US, grade 5: NGSS 5-LS1-1 asks for evidence that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water, which is the misconception above.

A 10-minute plant parts activity

• Before opening the diagram, ask the child to name any plant parts they already know.
• In Explore, tap each part. After each fact, ask: "What would happen to the plant without this part?"
• Turn on Labels and ask the child to trace the path water takes, from roots to stem to leaf.
• Play one Quiz me round, then a second to beat the first score.
• Finish outside or by a window: find a real plant and point to each part on it.

A real plant makes the best follow-up. A stick of celery left in colored water overnight shows the stem carrying water upward, and a bean seed on damp paper towel grows roots within a few days.

Learning more

Science is part of Eurekami's skill map, with lessons that draw science diagrams live and narrate them in English or Spanish. Daily Practice brings a skill back for review when it starts to fade, so plant parts stay fresh after the quiz.