Wisconsin Fast Plants are an ideal model organism for teaching and learning about the life cycle of a flowering plant. With their rapid life cycle (flowering in about fourteen days and seed maturation in about forty days), petite plant size, and simple growth requirements, it is easy to observe the different developmental stages of Fast Plants in your own classroom!
How can I quickly learn the different life cycle stages of Fast Plants?
Click on the thumbnail below to view a timelapse video of growing Fast Plants, annotated with descriptions of stages of development.
What can I teach during the different life cycle stages when we grow Fast Plants?
- Days 0-2: Germination (timelapse video of germinating seeds!) Planting and growing in soil
- Observe seedlings in a Petri dish
- Compare seeds germinated in light and in the dark (energy transformation investigation)
- Days 3-12: Growth and Development
- Measure or count plant parts to collect data
- Analyze individual plant data to draw conclusions about populations
- Days 13-17: Flowering and Pollination (timelapse of blooming flowers!)
- Make your own beesticks(video) and pollinate your plants(video) to produce your own viable seed
- Learn about flower structures and functions
- Ecology of the bee and the brassica
- Days 18-40: Fertilization and Seed Development
- Raise plants to maturity and harvest your seeds(video)
- Discuss the effects of the growing environment on seed yield
- How many seeds can you produce from a single plant?
