The Kingdom of Plants

Cell Structure of Plants  Plants, like animals, fungus, and protists, are eukaryotic, which means they HAVE  …..a membrane-bound nucleus; and other membrane-bound organelles, such as mitochondria, Golgi, vacuoles.  Plant cells, like some bacteria and fungi, have a non-living outer covering called the  ……cell wall.

Plant organisms are  Multicellular and  Have division of labor; from simple as in mosses and ferns

Plant organization  Division of labor may be very complex, such as redwoods and apple trees. These trees have systems to gather water, reproduce, store nutrients

Plant reproduction  Flowers are the reproductive organs of many plants, producing seeds in fruit  Coniferous trees produce seeds in cones  Ferns produce spores on their fronds  Mosses produce spores on special stems

Plants are sessile  Meaning, they don’t move from place to place, but-  They have adaptations to spread their genes when their seeds are dispersed.  And they DO respond to their environment  Such as leaves “leaning” toward the sun, climbing vines, roots that always head downward.

One thing that really sets plants apart is  Nutrition

Plant NUTRITION  Plants are photosynthetic autotrophs  The pigment chlorophyll (found in chloroplasts in plants) enables the plant to capture the energy of sunlight.

PHOTOSYNTHESIS  The plant uses this energy to produce organic compounds of glucose from inorganic compounds of water and carbon dioxide.

Plants and Humans

Other living organisms  Depend on plants directly or indirectly for food. Lucky for us, they don’t put up a fight when we come to steal the food they made!

Life on earth also depends  On the oxygen produced as a waste product during photosynthesis.  Organisms use that oxygen to undergo aerobic respiration, releasing the energy contained in glucose.

The cell wall  Is a non-living part of the cell, made of cellulose. When we eat that, we call it “fiber”.  The cell wall persists after the plant dies. We use those cell walls to build things.

We use organisms in the plant kingdom for DDDDyes, paper, thread, fabric, shade, fuel aaaand aesthetics WWWWhat????? CCCCommuning with nature, gardening, decorating…….