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Plants!Structures and Processes

Vegetative reproduction – asexual reproduction where a plant can make a copy of itself that is genetically identical. (cloning, bulbs, runners, eyes)

Asexual Reproduction in plants

Cloning – a whole new plant forms from one piece of the original plant.

This can happen naturally when a plant has a bulb or runners. This can also happen when a leaf or stem cutting is taken from the plant and purposefully put in moist material to grow into a new plant that is just like the parent.

Bulb

Runner

Eye

Vegetative Reproduction

–Bulbs – buds with short stems, modified compacted leaves for food storage, and epithelial tissue between each leaf.–Runners – stems that grow above ground in

vegetative reproduction.– Farmers cut up plants and use eyes, buds,

leaves, roots, and stems to grow new identical plants.

Non Asexual Reproduction

Most large plants must have a male and female part to reproduce. During reproduction a male gamete and a female gamete combine to create a baby plant.

When the male and female cell combine they form a fertilized egg (zygote). This egg will grow into an embryo (baby plant). This embryo is protected inside a seed.

Gamete – a cell used for reproducing. The male cell is called a sperm, the female cell is called an egg.

Zygote – a fertilized egg.

Embryo – a mature zygote in the female plant that will eventually become a seed.

Germination –the growth of an embryo in a plant.

Gamete

Gamete

Zygote

(Fertilization)

Embryo

(Germination)

Conifer Tree Reproduction• An example of a plant that reproduces

using male and female gametes is a conifer tree. A pine tree is a conifer tree.

Conifer – a tree or bush that has cones; usually an evergreen.

When you look at a pine tree, you may be able to see that there are both big and small cones on it. These two kinds of cones are usually found on the same tree. The small cone carries the male cells (gametes), it does not take a lot of space to carry the male cell which is pollen. Pollen from the male pine cone is carried by the wind and sticks to the larger female pine cone. The tow gametes combine to form a zygote. The fertilized egg will divide and grow to become an embryo. The embryo which is protected inside the seed will use nutrients found on the inside of the seed. When the pinecone opens, the seed drops to the ground where it can grow.

Flowering plant – uses a flower as the reproductive organ of the plant.

Pollination – transferring pollen from anther to stigma.

Fertilization – the result of a sperm and egg uniting.

Embryo

Endosperm

Seed CoatCotyledon

Seed Coat – the structure that protects the plant embryo until favorable conditions allow the embryo to begin to grow

Endosperm – tissue surrounding an embryo of the seed in a flowering plant. This tissue supply nutrients to the embryo.

Cotyledon - the leaf(leaves) of the embryo. These leaves will perform photosynthesis once the embryo has sprouted.

Photosynthesis

oxygen

Carbon dioxide

Water

Steps of Photosynthesis1. Plants trap the sun’s energy and use it to

break down water into hydrogen and oxygen. Some oxygen is used, but most is released into the atmosphere.

2. Carbon dioxide is taken in (mainly by the leaves) and combined with the hydrogen and oxygen to make glucose (a simple sugar).

3. Glucose molecules are combined into chains to form complex carbohydrates like starch.

Chemical Reaction

Stoma (Stomata) – a minute opening in the outer layer of a plant through which gaseous interchange takes place.

Photosynthesis

• Photosynthesis – a plant life process that uses energy from the sun as well as carbon dioxide and water to form carbohydrates (sugar/glucose).

• Chlorophyll – the molecule in a plant cell that traps sunlight and uses the light energy to break down carbon dioxide and water to form glucose and oxygen. It gives plants their green color. It is located inside the chloroplast.

• Glucose – a sugar that green plants produce during photosynthesis.

Definitions

• Vascular Plant – a plant that has specialized tissues to carry water and nutrients to all parts of the plant.

• Nonvascular Plant – a plant that is relatively simple in form and lacks specialized tissues for support and fluid transfer.

Plant Structure• The majority of plants are vascular

plants (flowering plants, trees, grasses, shrubs)

• More simple plants are nonvascular plants, or bryophytes.

Vascular Plants

PLANTS VASCULAR SYSTEMSXylem and phloem make up the big transportation system of vascular plants. As you get bigger, it is more difficult to transport nutrients, water, and sugars around your body. You have a circulatory system if you want to keep growing. As plants evolved to be larger, they also developed their own kind of circulatory systems. The main parts you will hear a lot about are called xylem and phloem.

It all starts with a top and a bottom. Logically, it makes sense. Trees and other vascular plants have a top and a bottom. The top has a trunk, branches, leaves, or needles. The bottom is a system of roots. Each needs the other to survive. The roots hold the plant steady and grab moisture and nutrients from the soil. The top is in the light, conducting photosynthesis and helping the plant reproduce. You have to connect the two parts. That's where xylem and phloem come in.

The xylem of a plant is the system of tubes and transport cells that circulates water and dissolved minerals. As a plant, you have roots to help you absorb water. If your leaves need water and they are 100 feet above the ground, it is time to put the xylem into action! Xylem is made of vessels that are connected end to end for the maximum speed to move water around. They also have a secondary function of support. When someone cuts an old tree down, they reveal a set of rings. Those rings are the remains of old xylem tissue, one ring for every year the tree was alive.

Xylem

The fun never stops in the plant's circulatory system. Most plants have green leaves, where the photosynthesis happens. When those sugars are made, they need to be given to every cell in the plant for energy. Enter phloem. The phloem cells are laid out end-to-end throughout the entire plant, transporting the sugars and other molecules created by the plant. Phloem is always alive. Xylem tissue dies after one year and then develops anew (rings in the tree trunk). What is the best way to think about phloem? Think about sap coming out of a tree. That dripping sap usually comes from the phloem.

Phloem

Xylem and Phloem

• Phloem is located in a ring just under the bark of a tree. When deer and other animals scrape off the bark of a tree, they are eating the phloem because it contains sugar.

• Xylem is inside the ring of phloem. A new ring of xylem is added during each year of a tree’s life.

Vascular Plants

• Vascular plants transport things throughout the plant in 2 main ways.

Xylem – one type of vascular tissue that transports water and nutrients from the roots to the leaves and provides structure.

Phloem – the set of tube like structures in vascular plants that transport sugars, which are made primarily in the leaves, to other parts of the plant and store it for later use.

(Circulatory System)

Celery Activity

• Place a fresh cut celery stalk in a cup full of water with food coloring.

• Let the celery sit for 24 hours.• What does the celery look like?• Cut the celery at different points to

observe each cross-section.• What does this tell you about xylem?

Plant Growth

• Fertilization – the result of a sperm (male gamete) uniting with an egg (female gamete) to form a zygote.

• Embryo – a mature zygote is in the female plant ovule, it will become a seed.

• Germination – the process of the growth of the embryo of a plant.

Plant Growth

• Endosperm – a tissue surrounding an embryo of a seed in a flowering plant that supplies nutrients to the embryo.

• Seed coat – the structure that protects the plant embryo until favorable conditions allow the embryo to begin to grow.

• Monocot – has one seed leaf

Nonvascular

Nonvascular Plants

• Bryophytes – nonvascular plants that include mosses, hornworts, and liverworts.

• Most nonvascular plants do not reach more than 6 inches in height.

• These simple plants have developed structures that act as roots, stems, and leaves so that can take in water and perform photosynthesis.

Rhyzoids

Nonvascular Plants

• Rhyzoids – elongated cells that attach to the soil and absorb water and nutrients.– Rhyzoids act as roots for nonvascular

plants, but they do not have specialized cells and tissues that true roots have.

• Most bryophytes are found in damp environments so they are able to absorb moisture directly from the air.

Producers!

What is a plant’s role in an ecosystem?

• Organisms in an ecosystem are either producers, consumers, or decomposers.

• Producer – an autotroph that uses the sun to make organic matter (photosynthesis) and is the base of the food chain.

• Consumer – An organism that must feed on other organisms to obtain food.

• Decomposer – An organism that recycles nutrients by feeding on dead or decaying organisms (fungi or bacteria)

What would happen if all plants died?

• Something that affects one species in an ecosystem, will affect ALL species within that ecosystem.

• ALL organisms have interconnected relationships.

What’s the role of each organism?What are the producers, consumers, and

decomposers?

How is a food web different from a food chain?