1. PLANT ADAPTATIONS
All living things adapt. This is a characteristic of life. All 6 kingdoms adapt. Animals are not the only organisms to adapt.
Structural Plant Adaptations
1. Structures - adaptations on the body:
holdfasts, empty space for water storage, catch animals for minerals, tallness, heartiness, thorns, flexibility, floatation devices
2. Seeds – all seeds have adaptations to
better enable it to survive long enough
to plant itself and grow.

2. SEED ADAPTATIONS
Disperse means
to spread out

3. Wind
Water – floating
By animals – eaten & then pooped out
By animals – hitchhiking on fur or feathers
Propelled – plant shoots seed out

4. Plant Adaptations
Protection – thorns, bad taste, poison, coloration, spikes
Waxy Coating – helps prevent water loss and freezing
Leaves – allow plants to store water, conserve water, absorb more sunlight

5. Leaves
All plants undergo photosynthesis and make glucose (sugar) in their leaves.
The larger the leaves, the more sunlight they can capture!!

6. Reproduction
Some plants are brightly colored and have a good smell to attract insects & birds – helps with pollination

7. PLANT BEHAVIORS
Plants not only have structural adaptations; they have behaviors that help them to survive in their environment.
Tropism: movement of a plant in response to an environmental stimulus. Toward = positive
Away = negative

8. Plant Tropisms
Plants respond to light, touch, gravity, and seasonal change.
Phototropism: the tendency of a plant to move toward light.
Auxins build up on the shaded side of the plant, causing it to bend.
Thigmotropism: response to touch.
Ferns shrivel, vines grow tendrils, venus fly trap closes, etc.
Gravitropism: roots grow down, stem grows up, in response to gravitational pull.
Photoperiodism: a response to change in day length.
Blooming, dropping leaves, etc.

9. Tropisms Phototropism  turning toward or away from light
opism/tropisms.html
Thigmotropism  response to touch
Gravitropism  roots grow down, stems grow up in response to gravity
Tropisms

10. Photoperiodism
Photoperiodism is a response to the changing lengths of day and night.
triggers some plants to flower
triggers fall colors & winter dormancy (leaves falling off) of deciduous trees

11. PLANT BEHAVIORAL ADAPTATIONS
DORMANCY –
Period of time when an organism’s growth and physical activity is stopped.
Many plants go dormant in the winter. Fall is the time of year when plants are preparing for dormancy.
What other types of plants go dormant in the winter?
Why do trees loose their leaves in the fall?

12. Plant Hormones!
Gibberellins: hormone that causes a dramatic increase in size – important for young plants.
Ethylene: causes ripening in fruits.
Cytokinins: stimulates cell division.
Auxins: lengthens a plant.