Plants, Plants, and MORE Plants!!!By Adam Priebe

Plant Cells

Plant Cell Parts Vocabulary

Nucleus- controls the functions in cellNucleolus- Makes the ribosomesCilia- hair-like structures that help the cell move (goes all around cell and is ONLY in animal cells) Plant Cell Diagram Mitochondria- Fuel the cell and give it energyRibosomes- Make the proteinsLysosomes- hold enzymes (ONLY in animal cells)Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum (SER) - Stores ionsRough Endoplasmic Reticulum- Packages proteins / lipidsCell Membrane- Supports the cell; keeps it in one piece, made of phospholipid bilayerCell Wall- Located ONLY in plant cells, this gives them additional support and helps them keep their shape. Like the cell membrane, it goes around the whole cell right outside it.Both in plant cellsCytoplasm- Jelly-like substance filling the parts of the cell that are not organelles    

            

Plant Cell Diagram

Types of Plants

Types of Plants• There are many types of plants, but the two main categories are

vascular and non-vascular.

VASCULAR PLANTS Vascular plants have a system of tubes that carry nutrients through the plant. They also have true roots, unlike non-vascular plants, which only have rhizoids (which look like roots but do not carry nutrients or water). They use roots to get water, are generally larger and higher up than non-vascular plants, and have phloem and xylem (which you will learn about later). Non-VASCULAR PLANTS

Non-vascular plants, on the other hand, have NO tubes to carry water (instead they use osmosis, where the nutrients will move from where the plant already has them to places where it doesn’t), are smaller and closer to the ground, have NO phloem or xylem, and reproduce by spores.

Phloem and Xylem ...but what exactly is phloem, and what the heck is xylem? Before we can learn what phloem and xylem are, we must first understand the different types of roots. There are two main types: monocotyledon (monocot) and dicotyledon (dicot). Monocots generally have the major veins (the tubes that carry water and nutrients trough them) parallel to each other, running in a straight line. They also are more likely to have fibrous roots, the roots that will branch off of each other with no apparent main root, than tap roots, where the other roots branch off from a main one. Another difference is that monocots have only one cotyledon (seed leaf), while dicots have two cotyledons. Now, back to phloem and xylem. Phloem is the tissue in the plant that sends nutrients and water from the leaves downward. Xylem sends the nutrients from the roots upward.

ROOTS

There are

three main types of roots:

• Tap roots- Roots that branch off from one main root (such as carrots)

• Fibrous roots- Roots that branch off from each other with no apparent “lead root”

• Adventitious roots- Roots that come slightly above the ground

Fibrous Roots Tap Roots Adventitious Roots

P H O T O S Y N T H E S I S

*Photosynthesis = How plants get energy from the sun, CO2, and Light Energy.

How it works:

1) Light energy, water, and carbon dioxide (CO2) enter the plant.

2) The plant’s chloroplasts undergo photosynthesis and turn the

things from step one into oxygen and glucose (the plant’s food)

3) We breathe in the oxygen that the plant outputs. This is absorbed into the plant, and the cycle happens over and over again.

Photosynthesis Diagram

Of course, after the plant has gone through all this, it still does not have the right kind of energy. Now the plant has to go through a process called cellular respiration ot make that glucose into energy it can use, basically by breaking it down.

First, the glucose is broken down, releasing energy that the plant can use.

Second, the rest of the glucose is broken down into individual carbon atoms that are then bound to oxygen atoms, creating CO2, or carbon dioxide.

The energy is then transported throughout the cell.

PLANT MORPHOLOGY

Plant morphology = The study of the structure of plants

Also called phytomorphology

There are two main systems in plants:1) The root system- The

roots in plants• This serves many

purposes including:- Keeps the plant

anchored to the ground- Absorbs

nutrients from the soil- Stores water

2) The shoot system- The stems, leaves, and flowers in plants• This serves many

purposes as well including:

- Keeps the plant upright

- Reproduction- Transports

nutrients around the plant- Stores nutrients

and water

Two different systems in plants

Can you identify the two different systems in the diagram at right?