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Tomato Life Cycle Visualization

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Tomato Life Cycle Visualization

Read the field notes, then use them and your science knowledge to solve the questions. Use scientific vocabulary in your explanations.

Field notes: from seed to seed

A tomato plant begins as a seed. When the seed has enough water, warmth and oxygen, it can germinate: the seed coat splits and a root grows out. A shoot then grows towards the light. This young plant is called a seedling. As it grows, it develops leaves and becomes a mature plant. The plant produces yellow flowers. Pollen must reach the female part of a flower for fertilisation to occur. Tomato flowers can often pollinate themselves, though insects and movement can help transfer pollen. After fertilisation, the flower’s ovary develops into a fruit. The tomato fruit protects seeds as they mature. When the fruit is ripe, it can be eaten or its seeds can be collected. If a seed reaches suitable conditions, the cycle can begin again. Gardeners may harvest fruit before every seed is fully mature; seeds saved for planting need to be mature and properly dried.

Investigate the cycle

Use the field notes as evidence.

1.Put these stages in the correct order by choosing the best sequence: seed, seedling, fruit, germination, the production of flowers.

Seed → germination → seedling → flowering → fruit
Germination → seedling → seed → fruit → flowering
Seedling → seed → flowering → germination → fruit
Seed → flowering → germination → fruit → seedling

2.Hana plants a tomato seed in damp soil. A tiny root appears, followed by a shoot. What process has begun, and what is the young plant called once it starts growing?

3.What process occurs when pollen reaches the female part of a flower so fertilisation can occur?

Germination
Seedling growth
Pollination
Fruit ripening

4.Complete this statement: After fertilisation, the tomato fruit develops from the flower’s .

5.Complete this statement: The tomato fruit helps the plant reproduce because it contains .

6.True or false? Tomato flowers always need an insect to transfer pollen before they can produce fruit. Correct the statement if it is false.

TrueFalse

7.Match each life-cycle stage to what happens during it.

Germination
Flowering
Fruiting
Seedling

Flowers form and pollen transfer can take place.
A young plant grows its first leaves.
The flower’s ovary develops into a fruit containing seeds.
The seed coat splits and a root begins to grow.

8.A gardener wants to save seeds to grow tomato plants next season. Explain why a ripe tomato can be useful, and name one step needed to prepare the seeds for planting.

9.A tomato plant has lots of leaves but no flowers yet. Which part of its life cycle is it most likely in, and what stage would normally come next?

10.Explain how the tomato fruit helps the plant’s life cycle continue. Include what happens to the seeds after the fruit is eaten or decays.

11.Create a labelled mini-cycle using the five terms seed, germination, seedling, flowering and fruiting. Add one sentence explaining how the cycle can start again.