lesson

Pollination is not fertilisation

1 · Learn

Pollination transfers pollen from an anther to a stigma. In flowering plants, a pollen tube can grow towards an ovule, allowing a male gamete to reach a female gamete. Fertilisation joins their genetic material.

After fertilisation, ovules can develop into seeds and the ovary can develop into fruit. Seed dispersal then moves seeds away from the parent; it is a later stage, not the same process as moving pollen.

Anther -> stigmaPollen tubeFertilisationSeed/fruit formationDispersal
Key words and supplied examples.

2 · Worked example

A bee carrying pollen between flowers helps pollination. A wind-carried seed is an example of dispersal after seed formation, not pollination.

3 · Your turn

Why is a seed being carried away not an example of fertilisation?

Check your answer

Fertilisation joins gametes earlier; moving a formed seed is dispersal.

4 · Apply your learning

Use an approved flower diagram to sequence the stages, linking each term to its actual structure and event.

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Powers, roots and trigonometry · Year 7 onward

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