Cambridge University Press

978-1-107-61141-2 – Cambridge Primary Science Stage 3

Jon Board and Alan Cross
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1 Looking after plants

1.1 Plants and their parts Words to learn

Plants can look very different. leaves flowers
stem transport
Most have four main parts.
roots healthy
leaves – make food for the plant unhealthy

flowers – help the

plant to make seeds

stem – to
transport
water
around
the plant

roots – support the plant and

collect water from the soil

Activity 1.1
You will need:
Make a model plant string • straws
coloured paper or card
Make a plant like this one. sticky tape • glue

Make labels for the stem,

roots, leaves and flower.
Stick them to your plant.

6 1 Looking after plants

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 Healthy plants have healthy
roots, stems and leaves.

Healthy leaves.

A plant with unhealthy roots, stems

and leaves will not grow well.

A plant with
healthy roots.

Unhealthy leaves
with rust disease.

Unhealthy roots with

root knot disease.

Questions
ersity Press www.cambridge.org
1 List four things that most plants have.
2 Describe how plants are different
from each other. Talk about it!
Why don’t plants have
flowers all year round?
W hat you have learnt
Most plants have roots, a stem, leaves
and flowers.
Healthy plants have healthy roots, stem and leaves.
A plant with unhealthy roots, stem and leaves will
not grow well.

1 Looking after plants 7

 1.2 Plants need light and water
Sunil has an Words to learn
unhealthy plant. predict investigation
fair test wilt
explain
What does a plant need
to stay healthy and grow?

Activity 1.2a
You will need:
six young plants • watering can • box
Do plants need light to grow?
to cover three plants
Look at the pictures to see what to do.

light no light
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Water all the plants every day.

What do you predict will happen to the leaves, stems
and roots of the plants?
In this investigation both groups of plants are given water.
What else do you need to keep the same to make this a fair test ?

If plants do not get enough light and water the roots, stem or leaves,
become unhealthy. The plant will wilt.

Light and water both help the plant to make food.

8 1 Looking after plants

 Activity 1.2b You will need:
nine young plants • watering can
Do plants need water to grow?
Look at the pictures to see what to do.

Water every day. Water twice a week. Do not water.

What do you predict will happen to the plants’ leaves,

stems and roots in each case?
What do plants need to grow? How do you know?
Explain what you have found out.

The surface of
the Moon.
Questions
1 What does a plant need to grow and stay healthy?
2 Explain what happens to the stem and leaves
ersity Press www.cambridge.org
when you put a plant in a dark place.
3 Would a plant grow if it was given juice instead
of water? Draw a picture to show how
you could investigate this.
Talk about it!
Could plants ever grow
W hat you have learnt on the Moon?

All plants need light to grow and keep their stems

and leaves healthy.
All plants need some water to grow and keep their
stems and leaves healthy.

1 Looking after plants 9

 1.3 Transporting water
The roots and the stem Words to learn
absorb
Helene has a plant that looks unhealthy.
Look at the roots.

1 2 3

This pot is too small The roots are really close Putting the plant in a
for the roots. together and cannot bigger pot will allow the
absorb water well. roots to spread out.

ersity Press www.cambridge.org

The stem transports

water to the leaves
and flowers.
The roots absorb
water from the soil.

The roots transport

water to the stem.

10 1 Looking after plants

 You will need:
Activity 1.3 a white flower • some celery • a container of water
blue food colouring • a plastic knife
Making plants go blue
A plant stem can transport water to the leaves and flowers.
Predict what would happen if the water was blue.

1 2
Your apparatus to use.

knife dropper

white
flower

food Place the

colouring celery and
the flower
in the water.
celery
Add a few
drops of
container of water
colouring.

After one day, cut the celery and look inside.

Can you explain what has happened to the celery and the flower?

ersity Press
Questions www.cambridge.org
1 Why do plants sometimes need to be moved
to a bigger pot?
2 How do plants get water to their leaves?
3 What would happen to a plant with
no roots? Why?
Talk about it!
What happens to flowers
W hat you have learnt when they are cut and
put into water?
Roots absorb water from the soil.
Roots transport water to the stem.
The stem transports water around the plant.

1 Looking after plants 11

 1.4 Plant growth and temperature
Activity 1.4 Words to learn
You will need: thermometer temperature
two similar bean plants • a thermometer • a ruler results bar chart
conclusion

At which temperatures do plants grow best?

Set up an investigation like one of the pictures below.

Put one plant in Put one plant Put one plant in Put one plant
the classroom. outside in cold the classroom. outside in warm
weather. weather.

ersity Press
Predict which plant will grow the best. Use a ruler to measure the height of
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the plants and a thermometer to measure the temperature every few days.
Record your results in a table.

Day Cold/hot plant Warm plant

Temperature Height in cm Temperature Height in cm

in ºC in ºC

1
Draw a bar chart to show the height of the plants on the last day.
What is your conclusion ? At what temperatures do plants grow best?

12 1 Looking after plants

 This is a rainforest.
Many plants find it easy to
Think about the place grow here. It is warm but
you live. Is there not too hot and there is
plenty of water.
enough warmth for
plants to grow?
When is the warmest time of year? When is the coldest?
Can plants grow all year?

At over 56 ºC, Death Valley in At −89 ºC, Antarctica is

America is one of the hottest the coldest place on Earth.
places on Earth.

Questions
ersity Press www.cambridge.org
1 Where do plants grow best? Cold places,
hot places or warm places?
2 What happens when a plant gets too hot?
3 How is plant growth affected by
temperature? Talk about it!
Why are there no plants
in Death Valley or
Antarctica?
W hat you have learnt
Plants grow more slowly when it is cold.
Plants grow more quickly when it is warm.
Plants die when they get too cold or too hot.

1 Looking after plants 13

 1 Check your progress
1 Here is a flowering plant.
D

Copy and complete these sentences.

A is the . C
B is the .
C is a . B
D is the .

2 Copy and complete the sentences using the missing words.

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You may use each word more than once.

roots flowers stem leaves water

Plants have that are under the ground. These hold the
plant up and also absorb . The water is transported to
the and then to the and the .

The make food for the plant. The help the

plant to make seeds.

14 1 Looking after plants

 3 Which two of these does a plant need for it to to grow?

water light

food plant pot

Copy and complete this sentence.

A plant needs and to grow.

ersity Press 4 Luiz and Cheng have planned an investigation.

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a What are they investigating?

b What do they need to keep the same to make the test fair?
c Which plant will grow the best?

1 Looking after plants 15