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e-Journal

Growing Hybrid Plants (p. 118)


Step 1. Questions

Hybrid seeds result from crossing two different varieties of plants. As you read in your textbook, hybrid corn seeds are produced when pollen from one variety of corn plant is absorbed by another variety of corn plant. Today, many fruits and vegetables are grown from hybrid seeds.

Write an explanatory essay about how hybrid vegetable plants are created. To write your essay, you will need to research how different plants are pollinated. Here are some questions to guide your research:
  • What are four ways that vegetable plants can be pollinated?
  • Would it be easy or difficult to develop a hybrid radish?
  • How are carrots, corn, and onions pollinated?
  • Why does self-pollination make it difficult for seed producers to create hybrids?
Are you ready? Begin by visiting the Web sites in Step 2. Look for answers to the questions above, and write down what you learn in the note-taking boxes.

With teacher supervision, you may use search engines to research other Web sites. You also can research hybrid plants at the library. When you are ready, follow Steps 3 and 4 to write your explanatory essay.


Step 2. Research

Research answers to the questions you were asked in Step 1. Visit these Web sites. Take notes about them on this page, too!


Toolbox Tip: Click here to find out how to surf the Web safely.


The Great Plant Escape
To learn how hybrid plants are made, you must understand pollination. Click FLOWER PARTS to review the basic parts of a flower. Then click the NEXT arrow at the bottom of the screen to review pollination. When you have finished reading, you can click the MYSTERIES button at the bottom of the screen to help solve a mystery. This Web site is from the University of Illinois Extension.
Take Notes:



Pollination of Vegetable Crops
After you decide on a vegetable plant to write about, you must find out how this plant undergoes the process of pollination. Scroll down to find out how different kinds of vegetable plants undergo this process. This detailed Web site is from the University of Georgia.
Take Notes:



Hybrid Seed Production in Tomato
This Web site from The World Vegetable Center explains the complicated procedure for developing hybrid tomato seeds. Click START. Then click INTRODUCTION to read a summary of the process that must be followed to develop tomato seeds.
Take Notes:



Additional Sites

Hybrid Crops
On the Wessels Living History Web site, you can read about how the hybrid revolution changed farming. You will find an interactive diagram that shows how a hybrid corn plant is produced. Scroll to the bottom of the page to hear Stan Jensen, a plant scientist, speak about how hybrid corn changed farming.
Take Notes:



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