A bee lands on a purple flower by the park bench. Its back legs are dusted with yellow.
"It is wearing yellow pants!" says Rocket. Raven watches it crawl deep into the flower.
"That yellow dust is pollen," she says. "It is sticking to the fuzzy hairs."
Nova hovers at a safe distance. "Watch where the bee goes next," she says.
The bee lifts off and lands on another purple flower. Rocket gasps. "It is delivering mail!"
Flowers are not just pretty. A flower is the part of a plant that makes seeds.
Inside most flowers there is a fine powder called pollen.
For a plant to make seeds, pollen must move from one flower part to another.
Often it must move from one flower to a different flower of the same kind.
Pollen cannot walk or fly on its own. Something has to carry it.
Wind carries pollen for some plants, like grasses and many trees.
Animals carry pollen for many others. Those animals are called pollinators.
Bees are famous pollinators. Butterflies, moths, beetles and flies pollinate too.
Some birds and bats visit flowers and carry pollen as well.
Pollinators do not know they are helping. They visit flowers for food.
Many flowers make a sweet liquid called nectar. Pollinators drink it.
While a bee drinks, pollen sticks to its fuzzy body.
At the next flower, some of that pollen rubs off. The flower is pollinated.
Now the plant can make seeds. Many fruits grow from pollinated flowers.
| Flower part | What it does |
|---|---|
| petals | bright colors that help visitors find the flower |
| nectar | a sweet drink that rewards the visitor |
| pollen | a fine powder the plant needs to make seeds |
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| Pollinators visit flowers because they want to help plants. | ? |
| Nectar is a sweet liquid some flowers make. | ? |
| Only bees can pollinate flowers. | ? |
| Pollen is needed for a plant to make seeds. | ? |
Sweet work, explorer! Tomorrow we get ready for a real flower watch.