Deep inside a flower, one special cell gets things started. The megaspore mother cell begins the little team of cells that includes the egg.
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At the bottom of a flower is the ovary. Inside the ovary are tiny ovules. Each ovule can become a seed.
In the middle of a young ovule, one cell grows bigger than its neighbors. This is the megaspore mother cell. Around it are soft layers that will one day become the seed coat. At one end there is a tiny opening.
Ask a grown-up to help you open a pea pod. Every pea inside started as a tiny ovule in a pea flower!
The mother cell splits two times in a row to make 4 cells, each with half of the plant's instructions (DNA). In most flowering plants, 3 of them break down. Only 1 survives.
The survivor grows bigger. Its nucleus splits again and again until there is a little team of 7 cells, called the embryo sac. The team includes the egg cell, two synergids, three antipodal cells, and the big central cell.
Press Split into four, then Keep one on the 3D model.
A sunflower head can make hundreds of seeds. Each one started with its own egg starter cell.
By Peekaboo Kidz. A fun video for kids.
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