KS3 / KS4 Biology - Ripening and seed dispersal

This film is from the series Science of the Harvest available on BBC Teach.

Stefan Gates reveals the importance of the cold of winter for the development of summer fruit, through the mysterious process of vernalisation.

Using the example of an apple tree, he unpicks how vernalisation actually works.

Teacher Notes

This film could act as a stimulus for a project about the circadian and annual rhythms of plants.

Students could be taught about the way that plants have adapted to their environments.

Can students explain why deciduous plants drop their leaves, or pines have needles in place of leaves?

Can students identify how plants that live in tropical rainforests are different from those in alpine conditions?

The learning in this film could easily be extended to cover the annual cycles of these plants.

Students could look at the impact that poor weather has on farming in a more general sense.

What implications does global warming have for UK farmers? This may mean more rain as well as higher temperatures.

Curriculum Notes

This clip will be relevant for teaching Biology/Science at KS3 and KS4/GCSE in England and Wales.

Also at Third , Fourth Level, National 4, National 5 and Higher in Scotland.

This topic appears in OCR, Edexcel, AQA, WJEC, CCEA and SQA.