Look around a garden and you will see plants everywhere, from tiny daisies to tall oak trees. Every plant, big or small, is built from the same handy parts.
Why this matters: Plants make the food that feeds nearly every living thing, and they add the oxygen we breathe to the air. Knowing how a plant works helps us grow food and care for the green world.
The parts of a plant
A flowering plant has four main parts, each with its own job.
| Part | Where it is | Its job |
|---|---|---|
| Roots | Under the ground | Hold the plant steady and drink in water and minerals from the soil |
| Stem | The main stalk | Holds the plant up and carries water and food to every part |
| Leaves | Growing from the stem | Catch sunlight to make food for the plant |
| Flower | At the top | Makes seeds so new plants can grow |
What a plant needs to grow
A plant cannot walk to the shop for its dinner, so it makes everything it needs right where it stands. It needs five things: light, water, warmth, air, and enough room for its roots and leaves.
Try this: Put one bean plant on a sunny windowsill and one in a dark cupboard. After a week the dark one is pale and floppy, stretching for light it cannot reach.
How water travels up
Roots drink water from the soil. It travels up thin tubes inside the stem, like drinking through a straw, until it reaches the leaves and flower.
Put the journey of water through a plant in order:
- Roots soak up water from the soil
- Water travels up tubes in the stem
- Water reaches the leaves
- Water reaches the flower
Stand white celery in coloured water. By the next day the colour has crept up into the leaves — proof of the tiny tubes carrying water upward.
Plants are wonderfully made, quietly at work while we sleep.
Match each plant part to its job:
- Roots
- Hold the plant steady and drink in water and minerals from the soil
- Stem
- Holds the plant up and carries water and food to every part
- Leaves
- Catch sunlight to make food for the plant
- Flower
- Makes seeds so new plants can grow