Unit 2 Notes
● What do plants need to survive?
○ Sunlight
○ Water
○ Minerals
○ A way to exchange gasses with the surrounding air
○ Photosynthesis
● How do plants transport their resources?
○ XYLEM
■ ONE WAY FLOW (roots up)
■ Water transport
○ PHLOEM
■ Two way flow (anywhere plant needs)
■ Food transport
(these make up 1 of 3 plant tissues)
● Where does the exchange of gasses take place?
○ STOMATA
■ Located underneath the leaf
○ What controls the exchange of gasses?
■ Guard Cells control the release of oxygen and water vapor from the stomata
■ Transpiration - when water vapor from the plants evaporates into the atmosphere
● Other special parts of the plant
○ Dermal tissue
■ Outer covering of plant
■ Epidermal cells
● Waxy to prevent water loss
● Tree bark
● Root hair
○ Ground Tissue
■ Produces and stores sugar to help support plant
■ May have common edible products
● Potato
● Squash
● Asparagus
● Reproductive Parts of a Plant
○ Seeds
■ Reproduction
● Each seed contains genetic material (DNA) needed for plant growth
● A seed cant grow without the proper conditions
● Need conditions such as moisture, warmth, and some oxygen
■ Survival
● Seeds have an outer protective layer and an inner food source
● There is enough food for until the plant can photosynthesize
● A seed is dormant until conditions are right
● Germination = The process of plant growing from seed to plant
■ Dispersal
● The ways in which a seed can be spread
○ Wind
○ Animals
○ Water
○ Bursting
○ Humans (crops)
● Parts of a flower
○ Petals
■ To attract insects and pollinators
■ When a plant loses its petals it doesn't always mean it’s dying, and may rather
mean that it has now been pollinated
○ Sepal
■ Leaf-like structures that protect the flower bud before it opens
○ Stamen
■ Produces pollen
■ The MALE structure of a plant consisting of an anther(with pollen) and
filament(tail)
○ Carpel
■ Produces the seed/egg
■ produce the seed/egg
■ The FEMALE portion of the plant that contains the stigma, style and ovary
● Reproduction
○ Asexual
■ Vegetative propagation
■ Ends up with same pant (no diversity)
■ Mitosis
○ Sexual
■ Pollination
■ Cones
■ Ends up with fruits(Diversity) - Meiosis
● Angiosperm vs Gymnosperm
○ Angiosperms
■ Flowering plants
■ Reproductive systems in flowers
■ Seeds enclosed within ovary
■ Pollinated by animals, wind, water
■ Think of fruits
■ Hardwood
○ Gymnosperm
■ Non-flowering plants
■ Reproductive systems in cones
■ Mainly pollinated by wind
■ Unenclosed or naked seeds
■ Softwood
● Plant Hormones
○ Plants secrete chemical signals in the form of hormones that are responsible for different
functions. For example:
■ Auxin - Stimulate cell elongation and new root growth
■ Ethylene - Stimulate fruits to ripen
■ Abscisic Acid - Controls seed dormancy by inhibiting cell division and halting
growth
■ Gibberellin - Produces growth in plants
■ Cytokinins - Stimulate cell division, interact with auxins to balance root and
shoot growth, stimulate regeneration of damaged tissues
● Tropisms
○ Phototropism
■ Plants goes away or towards light
○ Gravitropism/geotropism
■ Plant affected by gravity
○ Thigmotropism
■ Plant affected by touch
○ Negative vs positive tropisms
■ Negative = away from
■ Positive = toward
