Parts of a plant, and what each one does
Class 3 EVS · Plants · 46 questions with answers
Most Class 3 children can name the parts of a plant by the second week of term. The marks are in what each part does, and in why a plant would struggle without it - which is a different question and needs different practice.
- Names the main parts of a plant and states the job of each
- Explains what would happen if one part were damaged
- Sorts everyday plants we eat by the part we actually eat
Exercise 1 of 4 · 10 questions
Match the part of the plant to the job it does.
Match the pairs · Warm-up
Here’s one done for you
Root → holds the plant in the soil and takes in water. Two jobs, not one, and Class 3 answers are expected to give both. A useful check for your child: if the answer is only three words long, something has probably been left out.
- 1)Root
- 2)Stem
- 3)Leaf
- 4)Flower
- 5)Fruit
- 6)Seed
- 7)Branch
- 8)Bud
- 9)Root hair
- 10)Petal
Answers
- 1) Root - holds the plant in the soil and takes in water
- 2) Stem - carries water up and holds the plant straight
- 3) Leaf - makes food for the plant using sunlight
- 4) Flower - the part that becomes a fruit
- 5) Fruit - holds and protects the seeds
- 6) Seed - grows into a new plant
- 7) Branch - carries the leaves and flowers away from the stem
- 8) Bud - a young flower or leaf that has not opened yet
- 9) Root hair - the thin threads that actually take in the water
- 10) Petal - the coloured part of a flower that attracts insects
Exercise 2 of 4 · 10 questions
What would happen? Answer in one sentence.
Write the answer · Guided
Here’s one done for you
A plant kept in a dark cupboard → it would turn pale and weak because the leaves cannot make food without sunlight. Notice the answer has two halves: what happens, and why. Class 3 gives the mark for the 'because', and children almost always write only the first half.
- 1)A plant is kept in a dark cupboard for two weeks.
- 2)The roots of a plant are cut off.
- 3)All the leaves are pulled off a plant.
- 4)A plant is not watered for many days.
- 5)A plant is kept near a window on one side only.
- 6)A plant is watered with far too much water every day.
- 7)All the flowers are picked off a plant before they become fruit.
- 8)A plant is grown in sand instead of soil.
- 9)The petals of a flower are removed before insects visit it.
- 10)A seed is kept in a sealed tin for a year.
Answers
- 1) It would turn pale and weak because the leaves cannot make food without sunlight.
- 2) It would fall over and dry up because it cannot take in water or hold itself in the soil.
- 3) It could not make food, so it would slowly weaken and die.
- 4) It would droop and dry up because the roots have no water to take in.
- 5) It would bend and grow towards the window, because plants grow towards light.
- 6) The roots would rot, because they need air in the soil as well as water.
- 7) It would make no fruit and no seeds, because fruit grows from the flower.
- 8) It would grow poorly, because sand holds very little water and few of the things a plant needs.
- 9) Fewer insects would come, so the flower may not become a fruit.
- 10) Nothing - it would stay a seed, because it had no water, air or warmth to grow.
Exercise 3 of 4 · 16 questions
Which part of the plant do we eat? Write root, stem, leaf, flower, fruit or seed.
Write the answer · Practice
Here’s one done for you
carrot → root. It grows under the ground and it is the part that takes in water, so it is a root. Potato is the one children get wrong most - it grows underground too, but it is a swollen stem, not a root. That single exception is worth telling your child before they start.
- 1)carrot
- 2)spinach
- 3)mango
- 4)cauliflower
- 5)sugarcane
- 6)rice
- 7)potato
- 8)coconut
- 9)radish
- 10)cabbage
- 11)banana
- 12)broccoli
- 13)ginger
- 14)gram (chana)
- 15)beetroot
- 16)coriander leaves
Answers
- 1) root
- 2) leaf
- 3) fruit
- 4) flower
- 5) stem
- 6) seed
- 7) stem
- 8) fruit
- 9) root
- 10) leaf
- 11) fruit
- 12) flower
- 13) stem
- 14) seed
- 15) root
- 16) leaf
Exercise 4 of 4 · 10 questions
Write True or False. If it is false, write the correct sentence.
Write the answer · Challenge
Here’s one done for you
Roots make food for the plant. -> False. Roots take in water; leaves make the food. When an answer is false, Class 3 expects the corrected sentence too, not just the word False. Half the mark is in the correction.
- 1)Leaves make food for the plant.
- 2)Roots make food for the plant.
- 3)A potato is a root.
- 4)Every flower becomes a fruit.
- 5)Plants need sunlight, water and air to grow.
- 6)A seed can grow without water.
- 7)The stem carries water from the roots to the leaves.
- 8)Money plant can grow in water alone.
- 9)All plants have flowers.
- 10)Green leaves need sunlight to make food.
Answers
- 1) True.
- 2) False - roots take in water; leaves make the food.
- 3) False - a potato is an underground stem.
- 4) False - only a flower that is pollinated becomes a fruit.
- 5) True.
- 6) False - a seed needs water, air and warmth to grow.
- 7) True.
- 8) True.
- 9) False - ferns and mosses have no flowers.
- 10) True.
While your child works
- The 'because' half of every answer is where the marks are. If your child writes only what happens, ask 'why?' and let them add it themselves.
- Potato catches almost every child - underground but a stem, not a root. Say it once before they begin rather than marking it wrong afterwards.
- If you have a plant at home, point at the parts while doing this. Two minutes of that beats ten of diagrams.