Plants Lesson 2: Plant Life Cycle

A plant goes through several different stages before it is fully grown.

These stages are known as a life cycle which means they continue to happen in the same order over and over again.

All plants begin as seeds. You can purchase seeds at the store to grow in your garden, but you can also find seeds in nature.

The outer layer of a seed is known as the coat of the seed. The coat protects the baby plant that is inside.

We plant seeds in the soil and give them plenty of water and sunlight so that the seeds will begin to sprout. This time in the seed's life is known as germination.

The seed sprout will begin to grow in the direction of the sun until a tiny stem and leaves begin to poke through the surface.

The germination stage has come to an end.

Roots begin to emerge from the seed underground. At this stage in the plant's life, we call it a seedling.

A seedling is like a young child plant. If the seedling receives enough sunlight and water, it will continue to grow on the stem and the plant will become taller over time.

When a plant is done growing and has reached its full height, we call it a mature plant. Flowers will begin to open and new seeds can be born inside of the flowers allowing the cycle to begin again.