Week 9 - Introduction, Moving Water, Life Cycles, Structural Adaptations, and Plant Needs

Introduction

An Overview of the Module

	Introduction
	Plants are very important to our lives. Without them complex life would not be able to exist on our planet. There was a time when there were no plants and the atmosphere of the earth contained no oxygen. In the last unit you learned that all food webs began with some form of plant. Why? In this module you will learn all about plants; their parts and their processes. You will go on to learn about their importance in our lives. Let's begin our journey.

ACTIVITY A: Each Plant Structure has a
Function

Required Readings

Science in Action 7
pages 98 - 101
or
Science Focus 7
pages 104 - 111

Did You Know...

While most food webs begin with the energy of captured sunlight, there are other webs that do not. Deep down at the bottom of the ocean, around volcanic vents (also called hydrothermal vents) called black smokers, bacteria capture the energy in chemical compounds. This process is called chemosynthesis.

Plants are the foundation of virtually all the food webs on
Earth. They play the important role of capturing the sun's
energy, which is then passed on to other organisms in the
web of life. In this lesson we will examine the basic structure
and function of seed plants. They are many kinds of plants,
but we will only examine those that make seeds.

Just sit back for a moment and think about your own body. Each part of your body has a specialized role to play. Your five senses allow you to receive information about the world around you. Your skeleton provides support, so your not just a big blob on the floor, and it also works with your muscles to allow you to move about. Your digestive system brings nutrition and energy to every cell in you body. As you mature into an adult, your reproductive system will enable you to have children.

Every part of a plant has a specialized purpose (a function)

as well. Can you think of all the main parts that make up a

plant?

Roots and stems provide support against the pull of gravity

and they also contain a specialized transport system to

move water and food around. Roots also absorb water and

dissolved nutrients.

Unlike animals, plants can make their own food, which is then used in the plant's cells or stored. Green leaves are the main food factories in plants.

Plants also have a reproductive system - just like you! Plants

can reproduce in many ways. Seed plants use flowers

to make seeds.

Exercise 1.1 - Plants