Transcript Plants - Brightlight989

By: Allison, Brittney, Cord, and
William
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A stem is a structure that holds the plant up and supports its
leaves. There are soft and woody leaves. Woody leaves are
tough and strong with protective bark. A soft stem is
bendable and easy to break. Some plants store food in their
stems, other plants use their stems to store water.
Roots are parts that anchor a plant into the ground. Roots can
store the plants food and get water and nutrients from the
soil. As roots absorb water, pressure pushes water through
the stem and toward the leaves. In transpiration, plants
release water into the atmosphere through their leaves. Some
plants do not have roots like mosses.
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A leaf stores the water for the plants. The outermost layer of
the leaf is the epidermis. The epidermis is covered by a waxy
coating called the cuticle. The cuticle prevents the leaves from
losing to much water, especially during cold or dry weather.
A petiole is a stalk attaching a leaf blade to the stem.
Plants use sunlight to make their own food in a process called
Photosynthesis. Photosynthesis occurs within the leaves of the
plants and in structures called chloroplasts. Chloroplasts are
found mainly in plant cells. Chloroplasts use carbon dioxide,
water, and solar energy to produce food in the form of
glucose. Glucose is a food molecule that results from
digestion. Chloroplasts use carbon dioxide, water, and solar
energy to form glucose.
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All living things carry out reproduction, which is the
production of more individuals of the same species. A seed
is a structure that contains a young developing plant and
stored food. A new plant can grow under the right
conditions. Plants that have seeds often reproduce by
sexual reproduction. The male sex cell is the sperm. The
sperm come together with the female sex cell called the
egg.
Some plants are seedless. These plants grow from spores
instead of seeds. A spore is a cell that can develop into a
new organism. Unlike seeds, spores do not contain food for
the young, developing plants.
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The life cycles of mosses and ferns have two separate stages.
During one stage, asexual reproduction, the plant produces
spores. This stage is called the sporophyte stage. The plants
needs only one type of cell-the spore-to reproduce. The
other stage in the cycle is sexual reproduction. This stage is
called the gametophyte stage. In this stage the plant needs
male sex cells and female sex cells in order to reproduce.
The fertilized egg will develop into a sporophyte.
Angiosperms and gymnosperms are two types of vascular
seed plants. Angiosperms reproduce using flowers, but
gymnosperms do not. Instead, the seeds of gymnosperms
are produced in cones, such as those on pine trees.
Gymnosperms are the oldest seed plants. During the time
when dinosaurs roamed Earth, gymnosperms were the
dominant land plants. They first appeared on Earth about
250 millions years ago.
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All fruits and vegetables come from plants that capture
energy from the Sun and store it as food. Sweet potatoes,
beets, parsnips, and carrots come from plants that store
food in their roots. Potatoes, sugar, and ginger come from
plants that store food in their stems. When people drink a
cup of tea or eat vegetables such as spinach, cabbage,
lettuce, and oregano (spice), they are using plant leaves for
food. Cauliflower and broccoli are flowers that are
commonly eaten. Seeds people eat include beans, corn, rice,
peanuts, and even chocolate. Plant seeds are usually very
nutritious because they contain the developing plant and
its stored food.