Plants

Plants Kahoot

Plants - defining characteristics

* Have chloroplasts to make their own food

* Have cell walls for support

* Have large central vacuoles to store water and sugars

* Multicellular - have many cells

Plants have a superpower that humans do not have.

They make their own food using chloroplasts and sunlight. This means they are autotrophs, or "self feeders." In the food chain, they are producers because they produce the food that other organisms eat for energy. They have cell walls made of cellulose, like cardboard. This allows plants to have the strength to grow tall and stay upright. Paper and cardboard are made from the cellulose in plant cell walls.

If you only know one thing about plants...

remember that they have the superpower of being able to make their own food.

Leaves make food using the organelle 'chloroplasts.'

Inside the chloroplasts are green pigments called chlorophyll that collect the energy from sunlight. (Chloro=green; phyll=leaf)

Remember, you have to have green cholorplasts to make your own food, or be an autotroph.

An organism which is not green, can't make it's own food.

Challenge - can you think of any green heterotrophs?

What are vascular plants?

The human vascular system is the network of arteries and veins that carry our blood.

Plants don't have blood, but they have food and water which need to be moved from place to place.

Some plants don't have a vascular system. What can you infer about the size of plants with no vascular system to help them move substances around?

How would a non-vascular plan move substances between its cells without veins? (Hint - think back to cell membranes.)

The packet below follows along with the website and you need to fill it out as you work through the material. Please make an electronic copy. Take out "Copy of" and put in your name. Copy the URL into this Google Form, before you start filling it out. If you prefer to take notes on paper, that is fine. Speak with me, so I can tell you how to share your notes.

Unit packet - plants and photosynthesis

Scavenger Hunt

Since some people don't like to go outside when it's cold, we're going to do an in-class scavenger hunt. You are welcome to do this outside, with your parent's permission. If you choose that option, you can skip number one below. Just be sure to find at least four plants total. Be sure you find at least one monocot and one dicot.

#1 Click here to look at the pictures of plant leaves, flowers, roots, and seeds. Use the chart above to look for evidence that a plant is a monocot or dicot. Record your evidence on your note sheet.

#2 Find two to three more plants on your own, at least one monocot and one dicot. Take a picture to show evidence for how you classified it as a monocot or dicot. You may pull up weeds, but do not break off parts of plants without the owner's permission.