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Tomato Life Cycle Introduction

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Tomato Life Cycle Introduction

Read the field note. Then complete the investigation questions. Use evidence from the field note in your explanations.

Field note: tomatoes in the garden

In a warm, sunny garden, a tomato seed absorbs water and begins to germinate. A root grows down into the soil, while a shoot grows towards the light. The young seedling develops leaves and becomes a mature plant. Its leaves use light energy, water and carbon dioxide to make sugars by photosynthesis. The plant uses these sugars for growth. Yellow flowers form on the mature plant. Tomato flowers contain both pollen-producing parts and egg-containing parts. Pollen must reach the right part of a flower for fertilisation to occur. Tomatoes can pollinate themselves, although wind or visiting insects can help move pollen. After fertilisation, the flower’s ovary develops into a fruit. The fruit protects the seeds as they develop. When a tomato is ripe, it may be eaten by an animal; seeds can then be carried away and deposited in a new place. If a seed finds suitable conditions, the cycle can begin again.

Investigate the cycle

Answer in complete sentences where an explanation is requested.

1.Which statement best describes a plant life cycle?

The stages a plant goes through as it grows and produces new seeds
The amount of water a plant absorbs in one day
The seasons in which a plant can be seen
The length of time a plant’s leaves stay green

2.In the field note, what happens during germination? Include one change to the seedling’s growth.

3.A young tomato plant is growing in bright light. Name two other things it needs from its surroundings to make sugars by photosynthesis.

4.Match each life-cycle term to its meaning.

Pollination
Fertilisation
Seed dispersal

Seeds are carried away from the parent plant
Pollen reaches the part of a flower where fertilisation can follow
The male gamete delivered by pollen fuses with an egg cell

5.Put these stages in the order they usually occur: ripe fruit, seedling, flower, germinating seed, mature plant.

6.True or false? A tomato plant always needs an insect to move pollen between two different plants before it can produce fruit. Explain your choice.

7.Why does the tomato fruit develop after fertilisation? Give one way the fruit helps the plant’s life cycle continue.

8.Imagine a tomato plant grows healthy leaves but its flowers are damaged before pollination. Predict what is likely to happen to its fruit and seeds, and explain why.

9.A ripe tomato falls beneath the parent plant. Suggest one reason a seed growing there might struggle, and one way dispersal to another place could help.