Both of these plant structures are specialized for which of the following reasons?

Plants are critical to other life on this planet because they form the basis of all food webs. Most plants are autotrophic, creating their own food using water, carbon dioxide, and light through a process called photosynthesis. Some of the earliest fossils found have been aged at 3.8 billion years. These fossil deposits show evidence of photosynthesis, so plants, or the plant-like ancestors of plants, have lived on this planet longer that most other groups of organisms.

Explain the structure of the plant

Plants have a root system, a stem or trunk, branches, leaves, and reproductive structures (sometimes flowers, sometimes cones or spores, and so on). Most plants are vascular, which means they have a system of tubules inside them that carry nutrients around the plant.
Vascular plants are differentiated from plants such as algae, which do not have a vascular system. Most vascular plants are seed plants, and seed plants are most often the model used in biology and botany textbooks and the type of plant with which you're probably the most familiar.

Identify the different types of plant roots

As there are many different types of plants, there are many different types of root systems. Each system is structured to serve the needs of the plant body, based on the metabolic demands of the plant and the environment in which it lives.

Taproots. Taproots are roots that are specialized for reaching water deep in the ground or for storing the nutrients produced by the plant. Many plants such as sugar beets and carrots have taproot systems that are specialized for storage. In fact, the most familiar part of the carrot (the orange, edible portion) is a taproot.
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Fibrous Roots. Fibrous root systems consist of a network of small roots that spread throughout the upper layers of soil. Most monocots, such as grasses, have fibrous root systems. These roots allow the plant to access a large area of soil water and minerals. The mat-like formation of fibrous roots provides a strong anchor for the plant and also preserves the integrity of the top layer of soil by preventing erosion.

Adventitious Roots. Both taproots and fibrous roots are root systems that arise at the base of the plant shoot during germination. However, it is not uncommon for roots to develop from plant structures such as stems or leaves that are aboveground. These roots are called adventitious roots and mainly serve both support and conductive roles.

Explain that the sun is the source of energy for all systems on Earth

Energy radiating from our closest star - the Sun - provides the natural power that fuels most of the physical and biological processes important to life. These processes include the movement of Earth's atmosphere which distributes energy, produces global weather, and oceanic circulation. Sunlight energy also sustains plant and animal life. About half of the Sun's energy is absorbed or reflected back into space as it passes through our atmosphere

Identify that plants are producers or autotrophs that manufacture their own food using sunlight, carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water and mineral nutrients absorbed through the soil or other growing media.

An autotroph is an organism that can produce its own food using light, water, carbon dioxide, or other chemicals. Because autotrophs produce their own food, they are sometimes called producers.

Plants are the most familiar type of autotroph, but there are many different kinds of autotrophic organisms. Algae, which live in water and whose larger forms are known as seaweed, is autotrophic. Phytoplankton, tiny organisms
that live in the ocean, are autotrophs. Some types of bacteria are autotrophs.
Most autotrophs use a process called photosynthesis to make their food. In photosynthesis, autotrophs use energy from the sun to convert water from the soil and carbon dioxide from the air into a nutrient called glucose. Glucose
is a type of sugar. The glucose gives plants energy. Plants also use glucose to make cellulose, a substance they
use to grow and build cell walls.

Identify the leaves as organs where food is produced

Leaves are food producing organs for the plant. Leaves "absorb" some of the energy in the sunlight that strikes their surfaces and also take in carbon dioxide from the surrounding air in order to run the metabolic process of photosynthesis. The green color of leaves, in fact, is caused by an abundance of the pigment "chlorophyl" which is the specific chemical agent that acts to capture the sunlight energy needed for photosynthesis. The products of photosynthesis are sugars and polysaccharides. An important "waste product" of photosynthesis is oxygen

Describe adaptations of some plants in their leaf, stem and root which allow them to be successful as autotrophs

Plants have adaptations to help them survive (live and grow) in different areas. Adaptations are special features that allow a plant or animal to live in a particular place or habitat. Plants which live in extreme environments have adaptations to control their photosynthetic and transpiration rate. Most modifications are adaptations to very dry (arid) or very low light environments. Water plants have no problem of water shortage. They do not need adaptations to conserve water as desert plants.

Arctic Plants

• Most of the plants are small, grow close together and close to the ground. This protects them from the cold temperatures and the strong winds.
  
• Some flowering plants have fuzzy coverings on the stems, leaves and buds to provide protection from the wind.
• Some have woolly seed covers.
  
• Flowering plants use the long hours of sunlight to produce flowers quickly in the short growing season.
  
• Some plants have cup-shaped flowers that face up to the sun, so the sun's rays are directed towards the centre of the flower. These plants stay warmer than the air around them.

Desert Plants

• Remaining dormant in the soil as fruits or seeds
  
• Seed dispersal systems of barbs and bristles
  
• Xerophytic, water-seeking
  
• Tap roots or heavy lateral branching roots
  
• Small leaves, with sunken or restricted openings
  
• Pale, reflective, leaves
  
• Hairs, spines or thick waxy–walled leaves

Identify the function of the chlorophyll

Chlorophyll is a green photosynthetic pigment found in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria.

Chlorophyll absorbs mostly in the blue and to a lesser extent red portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, hence its intense green color.

Describe the structure of the leaf and explain how it is adapted for photosynthesis

Leaves have a large surface area; this allows them to absorb more sunlight. They are also thin, meaning that carbon dioxide has a shorter way to travel. In addition the stomata allow the entrance of carbon dioxide.


The more complex adaptations are of the internal leaf structure. The epidermis is thin and its transparent this means that more light can reach the palisade cells underneath the upper epidermis. The palisade cells themselves are er to the top of the leaf so they can absorb more if the light; they contain chloroplasts so that they can absorb the light. The spongy layer has air spaces in: these allow for carbon dioxide to diffuse through the leaf, and they increase the surface area. The wax cuticle is thin and made out of wax so it doesn't stop the sunlight from getting through.

Describe how all plants go through a chemical reaction known as photosynthesis

Plants use a process calledphotosynthesis to make food. During photosynthesis, plants trap light energy with their leaves. Plants use the energy of the sun to change water and carbon dioxide into a sugar called glucose. Glucose is used by plants for energy and to make other substances like cellulose and starch. Cellulose is used in building cell walls. Starch is stored in seeds and other plant parts as a food source.

The process of photosynthesis is divided into two parts: the energy‐fixing reaction (also called the light reaction) and the carbon‐fixing reaction (also called the light‐independent reaction, or the dark reaction).

image from plantphys.info

Explain the word equation for photosynthesis and know the correct chemical and symbolic representations of the photosynthetic equation

Describe how plants manufacture starch ,a chemical energy storage compound, and the significance of starch to all food chains

Plant cells use about half of the sugar for food.  The cells break down the sugar molecules to release the energy they contain.  This energy can then be used to carry out the plants life functions.  Some sugar molecules are converted into other compounds, such as cellulose and various starches.  Other sugar molecules may be stored in the plant's cells (organelles called vacuoles) for later use or stored in the fruit of a plant to provide food for the seeds of the plant as the seeds germinate and grow.  When you eat food from plants, such as potatoes, carrots, and fruit you are eating the plant's stored food, stored to aid in the process of the plants reproduction.

Herbivores are animals that eat plants. Herbivores are chemotroph, or organism that cannot make its own food.  To live, grow, and perform life functions, herbivores needs the energy in the plant's starch and the matter in the plants biomass. By eating plants, the herbivore gets its energy from the sun, although in and indirect way.

Conduct an iodine starch test to determine what substances contain starch

Describe the factors that affect the rate of photosynthesis

The main factors affecting rate of photosynthesis are light intensity, carbon dioxide concentration 
and temperature.

In any given situation any one of these may become a limiting factor, in other words the factors that 
directly affects the rate at which photosynthesis can take place masking the effects of the other 
factors

Describe how all cells, even plant cells ,go through a chemical reaction known as cellular respiration

Cellular respiration is the process by which organisms obtain the energy available in glucose. The organism takes the glucose into their cell, and through a complex series of metabolic processes, break down the glucose and release the energy called ATP. During the process of cellular respiration, carbon dioxide is given off as a waste product. This carbon dioxide can be used by photosynthesizing cells to form new carbohydrates. Also in the process of cellular respiration.

Explain the word equation for cellular respiration as well as the chemical and symbolic representations of cellular respiration

Deduce that cellular respiration occurs 24 hours a day in all living things

Key Terms:

Part 1 Leaf Structure

Part 2 Photosynthesis

Part 3 Plant Nutrients

Bill Nye the Science Guy talks about plants

Hank introduces us to one of the most diverse and important families in the tree of life - the vascular plants. These plants have found tremendous success and the their secret is also their defining trait: conductive tissues that can take food and water from one part of a plant to another part. Though it sounds simple, the ability to move nutrients and water from one part of an organism to another was a evolutionary breakthrough for vascular plants, allowing them to grow exponentially larger, store food for lean times, and develop features that allowed them to spread farther and faster. Plants dominated the earth long before animals even showed up, and even today hold the world records for the largest, most massive, and oldest organisms on the planet.

 Quick revision video for cells and structures in leaves. 

Have you ever wondered why leaves are green and not red, blue, or even black? We did too!

The simple story of photosynthesis and food ​

Photosynthesis is an essential part of the exchange between humans and plants. 

Hank explains the extremely complex series of reactions whereby plants feed themselves on sunlight, carbon dioxide and water, and also create some by products we're pretty fond of as well.

In which Hank does some push ups for science and describes the "economy" of cellular respiration and the various processes whereby our bodies create energy in the form of ATP.

BBC Bitesize team talks about respiration. The emphasis is on animal respiration, however, the same reaction occurs in plants.

What are the specialized structures of this plant?

Which of the following is a specialized structure for plants that is responsible for photosynthesis?

What are the importance of specialized structures of plants?

What are the specialized transport structures in plants What is the function of each?