Plant Life Cycle for Kids

Irrespective of which subject you take into consideration, the learning material has an important role to play when it comes to studies. While terms like meiosis and mitosis may make botany sound pretty interesting for adults, the chances of kids finding it interesting are pretty dull. For kids to take keen interest in their studies, the learning material has to be simple - and that's exactly what the information on plant life cycle for kids given below is all about.

Life Cycle of a Flowering Plant

Basically, the cyclic process which highlights plant growth process stage by stage - right from seed dormancy which is the beginning of the entire process to fertilization, is known as plant life cycle. It is important to understand this process, as it forms the base for various disciplines - including botany and horticulture. In order to make it easier to understand, the entire process can be divided into different stages.

Seed Germination
The life cycle of a plant begins with a seed - which is the storehouse of all plant parts, including stem, roots and leaves, in their dormant form. Other than various parts of the plant, the seeds also contain all nutrients required for the process of sprouting. A seed may lie in the soil dormant for a long time until it is exposed to favorable conditions required for plant growth - wherein there is ample oxygen and warmth. In favorable conditions, the germination of the seed begins with the roots making their way down into the soil. This is an important step considering that the roots derive necessary nutrients from the soil, and facilitate the growth of plant above the surface in form of sprout.

Sprouting and Growth
As the sprout surfaces, it slowly turns to a green color which indicates the presence of chlorophyll in the same. This helps the new plant to absorb sunlight and prepare its own food in the process of photosynthesis. Remember that the plant requires soil, water and sunlight for proper growth and it requires the same in abundance in this stage. The roots which are now firmly anchored in the ground derive nutrients and water from the soil, and leaves trap sunlight necessary for photosynthesis process. As the entire process takes place in leaves of the plant, the necessary nutrients and water are transported to these leaves via plant stem.

Plant Reproduction
When the plant reaches a certain stage, it stops growing and all its energy is diverted towards the process of reproduction. A mature plant has all the parts required for the process of reproduction. Absence of this step can result in extinction of the particular species and therefore it plays a crucial role in the entire setup. In the process of pollination, the pollens are transferred from the anther to the stigma of a plant. The pollen can be transferred by some force of nature, such as wind, or by some carrier with which the plant shares a symbiotic relationship. It is this process of pollination which facilitates the development of seeds - almost all of which tend to grow within the fruits.

Seed Dispersion
If the seeds are not dispersed, the plants will tend to grow at one particular place and compete with each other for available resources - which will eventually hamper their growth, and therefore seed dispersion is important. There are various methods by which these seeds can be dispersed. When the fruit ripens it tends to fall down and break - which results in dispersion of seeds. Similarly, when animals or humans eat these fruits, they throw the seeds out - which eventually comes in contact with the soil and grows into a full-fledged plant. When these seeds dry up, they are ready for the long journey which we refer to as plant life cycle. And thus even though the parent plant dies eventually, it continues to live in form of several other plants which were developed by its seeds.

Basically, there exist different types of plants, and the life cycle of each of these differs to a certain extent. Annual plants such as tomatoes, for extent, have a life cycle spanning one growing season, whereas the same in perennial plants, such as roses, spans over a period of 3-4 years.