1. Plant Cells Observation
Elodea plants are found in fresh water, and are common fish tank plants.Students
will observe many chloroplasts throughout the cells. Photosynthesis is occurring in each
cell in the plant. The Elodea plant is much simpler (less complex structurally) than the
onion or cork. An onion bulb is the root of the onion plant.
Cork is found as the outer layers of stems and roots of woody plants and also as the
protective layer that forms when a plant is damaged. Water conservation and protection
are the functions of cork. In the case of the oak cork such a profuse formation of cork
occurs that this tissue is removed and used commercially (ie. cork stoppers, life
preservers). Removing of the cork does not harm the tree as long as it has time to regrow
another thick layer every 3 to 4 years.

2. Elodea Plant

3. Elodea Cell

4. Onion Cell

5. Cork Cells
Emphasize with students that they have looked at 3 types of plants and these do
not look like the ideal pictures of the pre-lab worksheet. The common structure that can
be seen in all 3 specimens is the cell wall. The pictures below should help you illustrate
the differences with your students. Plants are more complex than most books present.
Students should be aware of this. Looking at cork tissue under the microscope, students
should see empty cells. There are no chloroplasts, but very thick cell walls. Cork does
not undergo photosynthesis, so students should not see chloroplasts

6. Vascular Plants Vascular Plants have three systems: Roots Shoots
Vascular tissue

7. Root System
Roots anchor the plant in the ground and absorb moisture and food from the soil.

8. Shoot System
Shoots are the stems and leaves, which specialize in photosynthesis.

9. Vascular System
Vascular tissue circulates water and minerals to the leaves, and the photosynthetic material from the leaves to the rest of the plant.
Xylem and Phloem are special vascular cells.
Xylem moves water around the plant.
Phloem moves nutrients and photosynthesis material around the plant

10. Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is the production of food from carbon dioxide and water, using sunlight as the source of energy and with the aid of chlorophyll.

11. Leaf Structure
Plants are the only photosynthetic organisms to have leaves (and not all plants have leaves). A leaf may be viewed as a solar collector crammed full of photosynthetic cells.
The raw materials of photosynthesis, water and carbon dioxide, enter the cells of the leaf, and the products of photosynthesis, sugar and oxygen, leave the leaf.

12. Pea Leaf Stoma

13. Capillary Action
The Science Behind It The process of capillary action here is water moving from the full glass up into the paper towel and down into the empty glass. Within a minute or two, the paper towels begin acting as a wick as the water begins to seep up and across it. After a few minutes have passed, water will appear in the empty glass. The water does not flow, however, from one glass to the next; it "oozes" into the empty glass. That happens because the water travels into and between the thousands, and maybe millions, of spaces between the fibers of the paper towel. That movement of water is capillary action. Capillary action is one way moisture gets from the soil into many plants, as it moves up through the plant roots. Capillary action is a slow, oozing process because the movement of water must fight gravity. It is made possible by the strong surface tension of water.