Middle School Plant Science

Contest Description and Rules:

Please direct questions to:

Cindi Wautier (cindi.wautier@uwrf.edu) or Teal Kampe (teal.kampe@uwrf.edu)
Student Co-Chairs

This contest is open to any middle school student. Teams can consist of up to 5 students and the team score will be calculated by adding the top 2 overall individual scores.

Contest Format

Participants will take a written test and identify samples from the items in the Plant ID list.

Horticulture Topics

Plant Parts and Basic Functions:
· Roots (tap, fibrous).
· Stems (xylem, phloem, cambium, bark, rhizome, tubers, lenticels, leaf, scar, bud scar, auxiliary and terminal bud)
· Flowers (pistil, stamen, sepal, petal, pollen, ovule)
· Seeds (cotyledon, embryo, seed coat, endosperm)
· Leaves (internal- stomata, guard cells, chloroplast, External- margin, midrib, shapes, epidermis, venation)
· Gymnosperms.
· Angiosperms
· Ferns

Plant Processes:
· Transpiration.
· Respiration
· Tropism, geo, hydro, photo
· Photosynthesis
· Germination
· Asexual reproduction (cutting, layering, grafting, division)

Plant ID:
· Common Wisconsin Trees- evergreen and deciduous
· Common annuals and perennials
· Invasive species found in Wisconsin
· Common garden pests; bugs, fungus/bacteria, weeds
· Common house plants
· Common garden tools

Plant Care:
· Pruning
· Separating
· Dead heading
· Fertilizing

Word Bank:
Tap root, fibrous root, stems, xylem, phloem, cambium, bark, flowers, pistil, ovary, ovule, stigma, style, stamen, anther, filament, pollen, seed, cotyledon, dicot, monocot, embryo, seed coat, endosperm, leaves, stomata, guard cells, chloroplast, margin, mid rib, leaf shapes, leaf arrangements, epidermis, palisade layer, venation, sepal, receptacle, transpiration, respiration, tropism, (geo, hydro, photo) photosynthesis, fertilization, germination, asexual propagation grafting, separating and sexual propagation, bulb, corm, bud, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, lenticel, leaf scar, bud scar, auxiliary and terminal bud.

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