Every grain of pollen starts out as part of a bigger cell. Microspore mother cells split up to make new pollen!
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Look inside a flower and you will see thin stalks with little dusty tips. The tips are called anthers. That is where pollen is made.
Deep inside a young anther are big, round cells called microspore mother cells. Around them is a layer of helper cells called the tapetum (TAP-ih-tum), which feeds them.
Look closely at a lily or tulip. Find the anthers at the tips of the stalks. (Lily pollen can stain clothes, so don't touch!)
Each mother cell splits in a special way, two times in a row, to make 4 new cells. Scientists call this kind of splitting meiosis (my-OH-sis).
Each new cell gets half of the plant's instructions (DNA). The 4 cells stay together for a short time, then come apart. Each one grows into a pollen grain.
Why half? Later, pollen carries cells to a flower's egg cell. When they join, the two halves add up to a full set, and a seed starts to form.
Press Split into four on the 3D model.
Many flowers make thousands of pollen grains. Every single one started inside a mother cell like this.
By SciShow Kids. A fun video for kids.
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