Plant

Food Chain
 Energy
Where do you get your energy from?
By consuming on foods. Thus energy is passed from one
organisms to another along a food chain.
What is food chain?
Food chain shows the different species of an organism in an
ecosystem and shows how energy is transferred in an ecosystem
when one organism eats another.
Plants are the producer & animals are the consumer
Plants capture energy from light, and transfer some of the energy
into food that they make.
When we eat food, we get some of that energy.
 Biomass
Plants use the food that they make in photosynthesis
to make new cells and tissues.
Material that is made of living cells and tissues is
called biomass.
Biomass means the mass of living material at a stage
in a food chain. The biomass goes down as you go
from one stage to the next, just like the amount of
energy.
Questions :
How do animal gets energy?
Animals get’s their energy by consuming food.
Where do they get their food from?
By consuming plants & animals
We are considered as omnivore but green plants & algae do not
need food. Why?
Because plants are producers. They make their own food.
How plants make their own food?
Via PHOTOSYNTHESIS process
Green plants absorbs carbon dioxide and water using light energy
& chlorophyll and releases oxygen and glucose.
Photosynthesis is also important in maintaining the levels of
oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Photo (light) synthesis (making something)

Photosynthesis
 Where does photosynthesis happen?
Plant cells in the upper surface of leaves have chloroplasts
which contain the green pigment called chlorophyll.

chlorophyll

carbon dioxide
(from the air)
glucose
water
(from the soil)
oxygen

It is chlorophyll, which absorbs light energy from the

Sun, that enables plants to carry out photosynthesis.
 Equation for photosynthesis
Light is absorbed into the Oxygen is released back
leaf by cells called into the atmosphere
chlorophyll

Light + CO2 Sugars + O2

Carbon Dioxide is taken

The sugars produced is
into the plant through a
cellulose, for growth,
whole in the leaves
and glucose, for food.
 Leaves
Characteristics of leaves:

• Enable photosynthesis to occur

• Leaves are the source of all of food on
the planet
• Leaves recycle all of the world’s
carbon dioxide in the air
• Leaves contain the world’s most
abundant enzymes

• Photosynthesis takes place in the chloroplasts inside the leaf cells.

• Chloroplasts contain chlorophyll, a green pigment that takes in
energy from the sunlight.
• All green parts of plants are able to photosynthesis because they
contain chlorophyll.
Structure of a leaf
Midrib- the central rib of a leaf-it is
usually continuous with the petiole

Vein- provide support for the leaf and

transport both water and minerals through
the leaf and on to the rest of the plant

Petiole- a leaf stalk; it attaches the leaf to

the plant

Lamina- broad, flat part of the leaf. It

contains veins. Photosynthesis occurs in
the lamina, which has many green
food-making cells.
Inside a leaf
 Features of leaves

Large surface area

*to absorb more light

Stomata
*allow CO2 to diffuse into
Chlorophyll
the leaf
*absorb sunlight to transfer
energy to chemicals

Network of veins
Thin *To support the leaf and
*Short distance for CO2 to transport water as well as
diffuse into leaf cells carbohydrates
 How photosynthesis takes place?
The process takes place at palisade layer- because
it contains chloroplast.
Chloroplast contains chlorophyll ( a pigment
which is a colored substance).
Functions of chlorophyll:
1) Essential for photosynthesis
2) Captures energy from light
 Respiration Vs photosynthesis
Respiration is the process in which glucose is broken down to
produce ENERGY
In plants, Glucose is combined with Oxygen to release
ENERGY, Carbon Dioxide and Water

C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O

Plants respire during the day and night, but they only
photosynthesis during the day when light is available.

Process Carbon dioxide Oxygen

Respiration Out In
Photosynthesis In Out
C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O (aerobic respiration)
6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2 (photosynthesis)

Photosynthesis and respiration in

plants during the day

Abundant light intensity

rate of photosynthesis >>
rate of respiration

Respiration in plants at night

No photosynthesis
A net release of CO2 and a net
uptake of O2
Factors affecting the rate photosynthesis
1. Temperature

Photosynthesis is controlled by enzymes – these

are destroyed at temperatures above 400C

2. Carbon dioxide

Photosynthesis increases at first but is then

limited by a lack of increase in temp or light

3. Light
Photosynthesis increases at first but is then
limited by a lack of increase in temp or CO2
12/09/2022
 ROOTS
Functions:
1) Absorb water and minerals from the soil
2) Anchor the plant firmly in the ground
3) Some plants store food in their roots
4) Weather condition:
During winter/summer- some plants allow
their above-ground parts to die. Only
allow the underground parts continue to live.
• Roots have a type of cell called a root hair cell- these project out from the
root into the soil
• Root cells do not contain chloroplast, as they are normally in the dark
and cannot photosynthesis
Type of plant cells
Transport
Plants have 2 systems for the transportation of substances- using 2
different types of transport tissue.

Xylem Tissue Phloem

Water and What is moved transports food

minerals
Transpiration Process
Translocation
stream
Consists of elongated dead cells Made of living cells

contain no cytoplasm contain cytoplasm

Continuous flow upright Two-way flow
Have tough walls containing lignin The end walls of the tube cells have
and form continuous vessels (tubes). pores through which food is
transported from cell to cell in the
form of dissolved sugars
 Movement of water through a plant
from its roots to its leaves
4. It evaporates from the
leaves(transpiration)

1. Water is absorbed 3. It is transported through the

from the soil through xylem vessels up the stem to the
root hair cells leaves

2. Water moves by osmosis from root cell to root cell

until it reaches the xylem
 Transpiration in the leaf
Definition

The process of a Evaporation of water at the

liquid turning to surfaces of the spongy
gas. mesophyll cells in leaves,
followed by loss of water
vapour through the stomata.

Result

The release of water vapour from a plant through the leaves,

causing water to move through the plant.
 Why transpiration is important?
• Transporting mineral ions
• Providing water to keep cells turgid in order to support the plant
• Providing water to leaf cells for photosynthesis
• Keeping the leaves cool by evaporation

Affecting the rate of transpiration

Light intensity decreases

Temperature increases
Air movement increases
Humidity decreases
Minerals
Plants need to take in a number of elements to stay alive= carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen

In addition, plants need a number of minerals for healthy growth.

These are absorbed through the roots as mineral ions dissolved in
the soil water.

2 important mineral ions:-

a) nitrate - for making amino acids, which
are needed to make proteins
b) magnesium - for making chlorophyll
 Deficiency
If plant does not get enough minerals, it’s growth will be poor. It will suffer from
deficiency symptoms:
a) deficient in nitrate- stunted growth
b) deficient in magnesium- leaves turn
yellow