No questions asked...flowers are efficient at getting the job done.

 

Look at several types of insect and wind pollinated flowers to get a better idea of how flowers even mimic other animals and trick others into thinking so...

 

I found another interesting site where someone looked at the development of the wild cucumber from flower to fruit. Notice the separate male and female flowers -another adaptation plants have.

Also notice in this flower that the ovary is below the corolla instead of above it and is called an inferior ovary. This is the same reason why the english apple has sepals at one end and a stalk at the other. The Guava is another fruit that has an inferior ovary, thus the remains of the calyx at the base of the fruit and a stalk at the other.

 

 

 

 

Ok 5th years, we are looking at fruit development and structure. This website should prove a valuable tool in identfying the structures of many of our own local varieties.

 

 

Fun in Discovery

Please feel free to click the comments link and leave a message below each blog entry that you find interesting. If you know of another interesting site you can also use that space to let others know about it! Keep the comments interesting, informative and relevant!

 

One student commented after class one day that she was interested in knowing more about how and why parrot fish change their sex. Yes a female fish can become a male fish. Strange things happen in the animal kingdom. Parrot fish exhibit a hermaphroditic life style. This lets them change sex in response to fluctuations in population density.

 

Excerpt from : http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/fieldcourses03/PapersMarineEcologyArticles/StoplightParrotfish.html

 

"Parrotfish have two strategies that they use. In one strategy they are all born female and then later they can change sex into males. This strategy is known as protogynous hermaphroditism (Girlolamo, 1999). They can also begin life as males that are known as primary males. It is thought that the sex changes occur as a result of low population densities.


Another advantage is gained through this type of reproduction. In parrotfish populations, the large supermales, large males that were once female, are dominant. They claim most of the females, and the primary males often spawn in groups with one female (Warner, 1988). Starting out as a female and then changing sex later in their life histories is very advantageous. The females have no trouble finding mates no matter how large they are, while the males are much more reproductively successful as larger individuals (Warner, 1982). This lets the fish have a very successful life. They can reproduce as females when they are younger, and then when they grow to a large enough size to compete as males they change sex and reproduce as supermales.

 

Quite interesting!

 

 

 

Ok so 5th and 6th year,

 

You are going to be investigating how cells carry out division and I found some helpful animations to help you visualize the formation of new ova and spermatozoa. Also in the list of links are some quizzes that you can take to test your knowledge! Have fun! 

 

Summary of All Meiotic Division in Humans ( Quite thorough)

Oogenesis ( Formation of new ova)

Spermatogenesis