1. Water potential
Using your knowledge from KS4 and your understanding of water potential write down how water travels into a root.
(remember a plant cells cytoplasm contains some salts and sugars)
Swap your work with your neighbour and peer assess
Define water potential (Grade E)

2. As water enters the root hair cell, this raises its water potential, so it is now higher (less negative) than that of its neighbouring cell. This means water passes from the root hair cell to the cortex cell next to it. This process is repeated across the root, until the water enters the xylem.

3. The 3 pathways for water to move through the root of a plant

4. Pathways through the root
1)Symplast pathway – goes through living parts of cells – cytoplasm. The cytoplasm of neighbouring cells connect through plasmodesmata (small channels in cell walls) 2)Apoplast pathway – goes through non-living parts of cells-cell wall 3)Vacuolar pathway – similar to symplast but it can enter the vacuoles as well
Define the three pathways that water can take through cells
(Grade D – C)

5. Water can only cross the root by the apoplast pathway until it meets the endodermis!!!

6. Why is the endodermis and Casparian strip – the end of the apoplast pathway?
Suberin in the Casparian strip stops water and mineral ions continuing along the apoplast pathway, so they have to enter the cytoplasm, through the cell membrane, taking the symplast pathway.

7. Transport through the root
Label pathways on your root hair structure
Explain the vacuolar pathway
Describe in terms of water potential, the movement of water between plant cells and plant cells and their environment (Grade C –B)
To predict the pathway that water will travel through the cells , using diagrams, (Grade B – A)