Botany

Russell Evans

Activity 1

People who are interested in plants are ‘botanists and the science is called ‘botany.

Look outside the room you are in. Can you see any trees， flowers or other plants？ What are they called？ How much do you know about them？ What is the most interesting or unusual plant you know？

Activity 2

Put words a–d in the spaces to complete sentences 1–4.

a） hair ? ? ?b） look like ? ? ?c） soil ? ? ?d） touch

1. If two things ______ each other， there arent many differences between them.

2. If two things ______ each other， there is no space between them.

3. If you want a plant to grow， you need to put it in ______ and give it water.

4. The man was sad to see one grey ______ on his head. He wasnt young any more！

Now read about plants that eat insects.

A When I was at school， I read a popular book by John Wyndham called The Day of the Triffids. It was really exciting， and it was about very big plants—triffids—that ate people. It was my favourite book. A few years later， I came home from school and there was something special waiting for me： my mum had bought me a plant for my bedroom. It was a Venus flytrap. It was like a very small triffid， but it caught insects and ate them， not people！

B Venus flytraps come from the south-east parts of the USA. The soil here is not very good， so the plants need to get the things they need to grow from somewhere else—from insects. The plants like warm summers and cool winters. You can grow them at home if you are careful.

C Venus flytraps are quite small and they grow very slowly. When they are about five years old， they are only about 13cm from side to side. They usually have four to seven ‘leaves. On most plants， the leaves are the green parts， but on the Venus flytrap， the leaves are red and each one looks like two small open hands.

D The little red ‘hands are usually open. But when an insect walks across them， its legs touch some special hairs. Then the plant ‘knows there is something in the hands， and they close quickly with the animal inside. Finally， the plant can eat the insect.

Activity 3

The story about plants has four parts， A–D. Which question 1–4 goes with each part？

1. How does the Venus flytrap catch food？

2. What is the Venus flytrap like？

3. When did you become interested in plants？

4. Where does the Venus flytrap grow？

Activity 4

These sentences are all wrong. Change ONE WORD to make each sentence right.

1. John Wyndham wrote a film called The Day of the Triffids.

2. The Venus flytrap catches people and eats them.

3. Venus flytraps get the things they need from soil.

4. The leaves on Venus flytraps are green.

5. When an insect walks on a leaf， the leaf opens.

Activity 5

Look at this picture of a plant and the words in the box. Use a dictionary. Write the words in the spaces.

Answers

Activity 2

1. b; 2. d; 3. c; 4. a

Activity 3

1. D; 2. C; 3. A; 4. B

Activity 4

1. film→book;

2. people→insects;

3. soil→insects;

4. green→red;

5. opens→closes

Activity 5

1. flower;

2. seed;

3. leaf;

4. soil;

5. roots