ICSE Class 6 Biology, Unit 1: Plant Life

What this unit aims at

Plants play an important role in our lives. As learnt in the previous classes, there exists a great variety of plant life on the planet Earth. Plants vary in size from minute microscopic forms to complex tall trees. Most of the tall trees belong to higher plants. Herbs and shrubs also constitute a large proportion of higher plants. In previous classes, children have already been familiarised with parts of a plant body (root, stem, leaf, flower, fruit and seed) and their functions. This topic aims at enabling children to know and learn more about the leaf, flower and fruit, including the arrangement, characteristics and functions of the parts of a leaf and flower. Modifications of leaves for performing special functions will also be covered in this topic.

Your child should be able to

• distinguish between leaves (reticulate vs parallel venation /simple vs compound leaves)
• recognize, identify and draw figures of leaf modifications for support, protection, reduction in water loss and vegetative propagation in leaf
• recognize that flowers are of various shapes, sizes and colours and are an important part of the plant
• collect and preserve various types of flowers
• explain the structure and function of each whorl of flower (complete flower)
• list the agents of cross pollination
• learn the process of seed germination and list the conditions required for germination
• list common names of locally available plants
• list the various types of modifications for special functions such as vegetative propagation and storage

Key concepts in this unit

• The Leaf: External structure (parts of a leaf in detail).
• The Leaf: Kinds of leaves (simple & compound).
• The Leaf: Types of venation (reticulate and parallel).
• The Leaf: Functions of leaf (main functions).
• The Leaf: Modifications (tendrils, spines, scale leaves).
• The Leaf: Insectivorous plants. Need for modification with an example.
• The Leaf: Vegetative propagation in leaf (example bryophyllum).
• The Flower: Parts (4 whorls), structure and function of each whorl.
• The Flower: Pollination (self and cross):
• The Flower: An idea about agents of cross pollination (wind, water and insects – their examples).
• The Flower: Fertilization: process in simple terms.
• The Flower: Formation of fruit – fate of each part (whorl) of flower after fertilization.
• The Flower: Parts of fruits: dry and fleshy, examples of dry and fleshy parts; parts of the pericarp of fleshy fruits (epicarp, mesocarp, endocarp) and function of each part.
• The Flower: Seed- parts (cotyledon, embryo: Radicle, plumule) and types (monocot, dicot)
• The Flower: Germination – conditions required for germination (moisture, warmth), seed germination of different seeds.