Plant Diversity

Summary
An introduction to the characteristics of the four major groups of land plants.

Objectives
• Students will name the four groups of land plants.

• Students will identify the presence of vascular tissue, seeds, flower, and fruits with the appropriate plant groups.

Suggested Grades
4th Grade
5th Grade
6th Grade

Excerpt
If you look around at all the different types of plants growing on land, they can be put into one of four groups. These groups are bryophytes, pteridophytes or seedless plants, gymnosperms and angiosperms. The most complex of these groups is the angiosperms or flowering plants.

Bryophytes are also called nonvascular plants because they do not have vascular tissue. The other three groups have true vascular tissue made up of tubes that they use to transport water, minerals, and sugars from one place inside the plant to another. Examples of bryophytes are mosses, hornworts, and liverworts. This category of plant cannot grow very big because it uses mainly simple diffusion to get transport water and other materials.

Continued...