Plants and Photosynthesis
Here are the topics that we will be focusing on:
Examples of plants in the plant kingdom
How plants interact with insects and animals
Adaptations of plants
How photosynthesis works to provide food for the plant and other organisms who eat that plant
How plants interact with insects and animals
Adaptations of plants
How photosynthesis works to provide food for the plant and other organisms who eat that plant
Review of plant cells
Remember, plants have a large vacuole that stores the water that the plant needs for photosynthesis. They also have chloroplasts, which is the organelle in which photosynthesis happens. The pigment in chloroplasts that give plants their green color is chlorophyll. Also, plants are examples of eukaryotes because their cells have a nucleus.
Interactions with insects
Plants need certain nutrients to survive. One of those is nitrogen.
Some plants, like the Venus Fly Trap shown below, get nitrogen by trapping flies and using enzymes to break the insect down.
Note, this is not the plant "eating" the insect for food. It gets its food from the sunlight. The plant is only using this insect to get nitrogen, which it needs to help grow.
Some plants, like the Venus Fly Trap shown below, get nitrogen by trapping flies and using enzymes to break the insect down.
Note, this is not the plant "eating" the insect for food. It gets its food from the sunlight. The plant is only using this insect to get nitrogen, which it needs to help grow.
Another example of how plants interact with insects is when plants rely on insects for pollination. Pollination is how plants are able to reproduce.
One of the ways that plants attract insects is by producing flowers that attract insects, usually by producing a sweet nectar. When the insects go to the flower to get the nectar, they will brush up against the pollen-producing part of the flower (called the stamen). They collect pollen (the male sex cells) on their bodies. When they visit another flower at a different plant, the pollen on the insect will go inside of the pistil and fertilize the egg (the female sex cell) and this will pollinate that plant. This will result in a seed forming, which will turn in to a new plant. This is an example of sexual reproduction because it requires two different parents (plants) to make a new offspring (the seed). The offspring will be different from both parents (it will NOT be an exact copy of either parent). |
Interactions with Animals
Aside from relying on insects to help spread pollen for reproduction, plants also rely on animals to spread their seeds.
The parent plant does not want to compete for the same resources (such as water and light) so plants have adaptations to spread their offspring (their seeds). One of the most common ways that plants do this is to put their seeds in a fruit, which attracts animals to eat the fruit. When they eat the fruit (including the seeds) they digest the fruit, but their bodies cannot digest the seeds. When they excrete their waste product, the seed will come out as well. The droppings will also provide nutrients to help that seed start to grow. |
Plant Adaptations
Plants have developed different features that help them to survive, which are called adaptations. Below are some examples of these.
Searching for lightPlants need light in order for photosynthesis to happen.
Photosynthesis is the process where plants make sugars (food) from the sunlight. Because this sunlight is essential for photosynthesis, plants (like the one shown to the right) will move towards the light. In this video, a creeper plant moves along the forest floor and up a tree in the direction of the light. |
|
Getting nitrogen
As mentioned above, the Venus Fly Trap plant is adapted to living in areas with little nitrogen in the soil. Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plants to survive. In order for these plants to get this nutrient, they trap insects, use digestive enzymes to break them down to get the nitrogen out of their bodies. |
Retaining water
In order to live in hot, dry climates, plants have an adaptation to keep in water and prevent the water from evaporating out of the leaves. This waxy outer layer on the leaf is called the cuticle.
In order to live in hot, dry climates, plants have an adaptation to keep in water and prevent the water from evaporating out of the leaves. This waxy outer layer on the leaf is called the cuticle.
Photosynthesis
Photo = light
synthesis = to make
synthesis = to make
Below is a simple diagram of how the process of photosynthesis happens.
A plant takes carbon dioxide (which we breath out) and water (usually through its roots in the soil) and with the help of sunlight, makes a sugar called "glucose" (carboyhdrates) for the plant's food as well as oxygen.
The oxygen that it produces is necessary for animals to breath in.
Watch photosynthesis happen in this water plant!
Watch this video below to see the effect of light has on weather or not the plant can perform photosynthesis.
When the light is on, we know the plant is performing photosynthesis when the oxygen bubbles come out of the stem, since oxygen is one of the things produced from photosynthesis.
Look at what happens to the oxygen bubbles when the light is turned off...
When the light is on, we know the plant is performing photosynthesis when the oxygen bubbles come out of the stem, since oxygen is one of the things produced from photosynthesis.
Look at what happens to the oxygen bubbles when the light is turned off...
Role of plants in the world
Food chains
Plants play a very important role in our ecosystem. An ecosystem is a community of organisms that interact with each other and their environment.
One of the reasons why plants are so important in our ecosystem is that they form the basis of the food chain. A food chain shows how energy is transferred from one organism to another when one organism eats another organism.
Plants play a very important role in our ecosystem. An ecosystem is a community of organisms that interact with each other and their environment.
One of the reasons why plants are so important in our ecosystem is that they form the basis of the food chain. A food chain shows how energy is transferred from one organism to another when one organism eats another organism.
For example, in the picture above, the plant makes sugar (which it uses for energy) through photosynthesis.
This energy is transferred to the grasshopper when the grasshopper eats the grass. When the mouse eats the grasshopper, the energy that the grasshopper got from the grass is then transferred to the mouse. This process continues when the snake eats the mouse and when the owl eats the snake.
The arrow shows the direction in which the energy is going.
This energy is transferred to the grasshopper when the grasshopper eats the grass. When the mouse eats the grasshopper, the energy that the grasshopper got from the grass is then transferred to the mouse. This process continues when the snake eats the mouse and when the owl eats the snake.
The arrow shows the direction in which the energy is going.
"Air recyclers"
Plants play a very important role in helping to provide the oxygen in our atmosphere that we need to breathe.
They use the carbon dioxide that we exhale along with water and sunlight to make sugar and oxygen (this is photosynthesis). This oxygen that they produce is released into the air, which we need to survive.