ENGAGE--Have you ever found a potato that looks like this?

STEP 1:  Have you ever been asked to grab some potatoes to make dinner?  You get to the potatoes and they look like the potato in the picture above, and you think, “GROSS!  I am not eating this.  What is the matter with this potato?!?!” … How about we investigate...

Watch the following video and use the information to answer the following questions. 

1. After watching the video, what do you think that funky looking stuff on the potato is    needed for? |
 | 2. Compare how many he started with compared to what he ended with? |
 | 3. During the video he mentioned things the potato plants would need to grow successfully?  What are some of those things (I noticed 5 helpful conditions)? |
 | 4. What type of reproduction is happening here?
Growth





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| He started with 12, and ended with more than 40 |
| Cool bright place before plantingRich moist soilSunny
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| Asexual

I also want you to notice that the potato plants have FLOWERS, hmmmm I find that curious…  What would a potato plant do with flowers? We’ll get to that later!

The potato is a fascinating specimen.It tastes great, mashed, baked, and fried (Mmmmm...french fries)
It is a thickened, underground part of the stem called a TUBER.  It stores glucose in complex starchy molecules (plants make glucose for themselves to use, but animals love to eat it because they need glucose to make energy too), and has special structures called “eyes” for reproduction.
The eye of the potato is a little indented section with specialized cells that can develop into a new plant.  Therefore, tubers are a reproductive structure in plants.  Because we can start with one potato to create a new plant with many new potatoes, it is a type of Asexual Reproduction called vegetative propagation.  This is not the only type of Asexual reproduction in plants, there are more!Recall:  When reproduction involves the genetic material from one parent and makes identical copies of itself it reproduces through ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION

STEP 2:  Explore the different types of Asexual reproduction in plants.  In this activity you will be given the name and a description of the different types of asexual reproduction in plants in a table.  You will also be given an event describing one of the types of vegetative propagation.  It will be your job to drag the correct  event into the box that names and describes the correct type of vegetative propagation for each event.  

Continue to the next 2 pages for the description of the 6 Types of Vegatative Propagation 

Bulbs:  are round, swollen parts of a stem that are found underground.  There is a shoot of a new plant at the center of several layers of fleshy leaves.  The leaves are used for food storage to nourish the new plant.  There are many common bulbs that we get food from too, like garlic and onion - great breath!  Scott Kleinman/Photodisc/Getty Images | Cutting: A part of a plant, usually the stem or leaf, is cut off and planted.  It will develop a root system, then grow into a complete new plant.  All from just a small part of the plant. | Tubers:  are swollen (thick) underground stems or roots that store nutrients.  They have specialized locations that can develop into a new plant.


Ed Reschke/Photolibrary/Getty Images

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Runners: Also called stolons, Runners are above ground, horizontal stems that shoot out from certain types of plants.  On the runner there are nodes, which are locations where a new plant will develop.  Dorling Kindersley/Getty Images | Rhizomes:  are modified stems that usually grow underground or at the surface of the ground, and run horizontally.  There are specialized cells to make new plants along the rhizome.  The rhizomes provide storage of nutrients for the plant. | Corms: are enlarged bulb-like underground stems.  They have a nutrient rich solid stem tissue that is surrounded by papery leaves.  It looks similar to a bulb, but is different because a bulb is a layer of leaves, while the crom has solid internal tissue.
Chris Burrows/Photolibrary/Getty Images


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STEP 3:  Explain what you have learned  about plant reproduction so far…

How many parents do plants that reproduce asexually have? |
 | Because they are reproducing asexually, what will the baby plants be like compared to the parent plants? |
 | What advantages are gained by the plants reproducing asexually? |
 | What disadvantage could occur because the plants are reproducing asexually?
1



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| Identical |
| Faster |
| Weaknesses to disease.

Remember how we found it curious that the tubers were reproducing asexually from the potato of a plant, but the plant it made had beautiful little flowers!  

STEP 3:  Now lets Elaborate on, Why the potato plant had flowers.  Why does any plant have flowers?  Just like each part of our body does a specific job, each part of a plant has a specific job too.  Have you ever noticed how beautiful flowers are?  Their bright beautiful colors, intoxicating smells, and sweet nectar.  The job of a flower is to be attractive.  Why is it necessary for organisms to be attractive in nature?  Hmmm…  Watch the following video clip for ideas. This is by far one of my most favorite videos to watch.  I notice new details each time I watch it.  It is peaceful, relaxing, and unbelievable to see all the little things in nature that we take for granted.  

Based on the observations you made while watching the video, What is the purpose of flowers? And why does being attractive help?
To help in reproduction and to attract pollination.







Is the flowers job involved in asexual or sexual reproduction? | Sexual

STEP 4:  Time to Explore some more:  Parts of a plant. Research to answer each part.

Part of the Plant | Describe its job and make a connection to how it helps reproduction happen.
Roots | Provides nutrients
Stems | Carries nutrients
Leaves | Can attract pollinators and performs photosynthesis
Flowers | Contains male and female sex organs.
Fruit (Strawberries) | The result of reproduction, to spread more seeds.

STEP 5:  Exploring is so much fun- We should explore even more…  Start by watching the Introduction to Flowers video.

*Then click the Anatomy of a Flower link.  You are going to want to keep this screen open and have a second tab open with the Anatomy of a Flower link open as well.  

Interactive:  Utah Genetics--Why Flowering Plants Need Pollinatorshttps://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/flowers/pollinators/

*Once to the “Flower Anatomy” section, Click the Dissect Flower button.  In your “sketchbook” draw a picture of a flower and include the parts listed in the chart below.

Parts of the flower | Describe what the part of the flower is used for
Sepal | Protection
Petals | To attract pollinators
Pistil (Based on the description add details to your drawing including with labels:  ovary, female reproductive cells = eggs, stigma, & style) | The female reproduction part
Stamen (Based on the description add details including with labels the anther and filament to your drawing) | Male pollen producing part

*Scroll down to the LIFE CYCLE of a FLOWERING PLANT.  You will use this section to explore the different stages of a plant's life cycle.  To complete this section, you will click on the different pictures in the circle, starting with germination.  Then you will read what happens in that part of the life cycle, and give a description in the chart below

in your own words.

Stage of the Life Cycle | Description, in your own words, of what is happening at the point
1.  Germination | Seed opens up and is ready to grow.
2.  Growth | Seed starts using it nutrients.
3.  Flowering | Plant now grows flowers to reproduce.
4.  Pollination | Pollinators and wind carry pollen to other flowers
5.  Pollen Tube Formation | Pollen grows down to bottom of pistil
6.  Fertilization | Egg is fertilized
7.  Seed Production | Seed grows
8.  Seed Release (which leads to Germination again) | Fruit gets eaten and carried elsewhere

*Scroll down to the Pollinators Help Increase Diversity.  Read the information provided and answer the following questions.  A helpful hint… diversity means differences, or that there are many different possible combinations of traits.  Compare self pollination to cross pollination in the chart below. 

 | Self Pollination | Cross Pollination
What is it? | Asexual | Sexual production
What are the advantages (positives or good qualities)? | Fast | Diverse
What are the disadvantages (negative or bad qualities)? | Weak to disease | Slower

Explain why the genetic diversity created by cross pollination is so important? | It protects the species from being wiped out by one disease.

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