As you work through this unit you will learn about
the various ways plants can reproduce.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask your teacher.
Have fun!
Reproduction
Plants can reproduce both sexually (requires male and female plants), or asexually (only one parent is required).
Watch the following:
Watch the following:
Asexual Reproduction in Plants
Watch this BrainPop Video.
TASK
There are many methods of asexual reproduction in plants.
Choose 2 of the following methods,
research and create a mini-poster for each.
Rhizomes
Tubers
Runners (Stolons)
Plantlets
Bulbs
Corms
Budding
Sporulation
Fragmentation
Methods of Asexual Reproduction
Asexual reproduction allows a plant to multiply with only one parent (seeds are not required).TASK
Choose 2 of the following methods,
research and create a mini-poster for each.
Rhizomes
Tubers
Runners (Stolons)
Plantlets
Bulbs
Corms
Budding
Sporulation
Fragmentation
Cloning
Which is the most famous sheep in the world?
A sheep called Dolly. But why is Dolly famous?
Unlike other sheep, Dolly was not born in the usual manner. She was a copy of her mother, like an identical twin. This means that she was the twin sister of her mother who is older by six years and she did not have a father!
Scientists at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, UK, made history on 27th February 1997, when they successfully cloned a sheep.
Unlike other sheep, Dolly was not born in the usual manner. She was a copy of her mother, like an identical twin. This means that she was the twin sister of her mother who is older by six years and she did not have a father!
Scientists at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, UK, made history on 27th February 1997, when they successfully cloned a sheep.
So what is cloning?
We all have fathers and mothers, in fact all the animals we know of have them too. A clone, however, does not need to have both parents...
The miracle molecule: DNA
Our bodies are made up of cells which have information to go about their work in the form of DNA or de-oxy-ribo-nucleic-acid. DNA makes up our chromosomes. Every organism gets half of their information from their father and the other half from their mother.
We all have grown from a single cell which contains these two parts of the DNA. It is called the egg cell. It divides millions of times (through mitosis) to give rise to the millions of cells which form our body.
Each cell has a copy of all the genetic information needed by the body. This means that each cell of our body has enough information to create other human beings like us. All we need is an egg cell to put it in.
To clone something, scientists take the DNA from an animal cell and put it into an empty egg cell.
This is how Dolly's life began - from a single cell taken from the udder of her mother. The DNA in her mother's cell was removed and transferred into an empty egg cell. Five months later, Dolly was born a healthy lamb, a clone of her mother (from whom her DNA was taken) - and without a biological father.
It is technologically possible to clone humans as well. We might have clones of athletes and great scientists. What would you do with a clone of yourself?
The miracle molecule: DNA
Our bodies are made up of cells which have information to go about their work in the form of DNA or de-oxy-ribo-nucleic-acid. DNA makes up our chromosomes. Every organism gets half of their information from their father and the other half from their mother.
We all have grown from a single cell which contains these two parts of the DNA. It is called the egg cell. It divides millions of times (through mitosis) to give rise to the millions of cells which form our body.
Each cell has a copy of all the genetic information needed by the body. This means that each cell of our body has enough information to create other human beings like us. All we need is an egg cell to put it in.
To clone something, scientists take the DNA from an animal cell and put it into an empty egg cell.
This is how Dolly's life began - from a single cell taken from the udder of her mother. The DNA in her mother's cell was removed and transferred into an empty egg cell. Five months later, Dolly was born a healthy lamb, a clone of her mother (from whom her DNA was taken) - and without a biological father.
It is technologically possible to clone humans as well. We might have clones of athletes and great scientists. What would you do with a clone of yourself?
Watch the following videos and complete the activities linked at the bottom of the page.
You will need to get the BrainPop user information from your teacher.
What is Cloning?
Dolly the Sheep
ACTIVITY: Looking at DNA!
I bet you've never seen DNA before. Complete this experiment to see some today - Green pea DNA!
Materials
1/2 cup of canned peas (no juice)
1 cup water
Blender
Strainer
Large measuring cup
Dish soap
Rubbing alcohol (70-95% isopropyl alcohol)
Meat tenderizer
Test tubes
Chopstick
Procedure
1. Pour the peas and water into the blender.
2. Blend on high for 15 seconds. (This breaks the pea cells up from each other).
3. Pour the resulting 'pea soup' through the strainer and into a large measuring cup.
4. Add 2 tablespoons (tbsp) of dish soap.
5. Swirl gently to mix. (The soap breaks the pea cell membranes, which holds the DNA).
6. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
7. Pour the mixture into several different test tubes about 1/3 full.
8. Add a pinch of meat tenderizer to each test tube and swirl very, very gently. (Meat tenderizer breaks up the proteins which protect the DNA, leaving it free).
9. Fill another test tube with rubbing alcohol.
10. You want the alcohol to sit on top of the pea soup not mix in, so pour slowly! Tilt one of you pea soup test tubes, and gently pour the rubbing alcohol from the other tube down the inside wall.
11. There should be two layers in your test tube: pea soup on the bottom and the alcohol on the top.
12. A long stringy substance should rise to the alcohol layer of the test tube, use the chopstick to pull it out. What you are holding is a clump of DNA! Congratulations!
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