Chapter 6 Plant Nutrition
Chapter 6 Plant Nutrition
Chapter 6 Plant Nutrition
Animals and fungi cannot make their own food. They feed on organic
substances that have originally made by plants. Some animals eat other
animals but all the substances passing one animal to another were first
made by plants
Plants make their own food. They use inorganic substances — carbon
dioxide, water, and nitrates — from the air and soil
Plants build these substances into complex materials, making all the
carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and vitamins that they need. Substances
made by living organisms are called organic
6.2 Photosynthesis
Green plants make the carbohydrate glucose from carbon dioxide and
water. At the same time, oxygen is produced
Glucose is made when we mix carbon dioxide and water together and also
the energy of sunlight must be given to produce glucose. This process is
called photosynthesis ('photo' means light, and 'synthesis' means
manufacture)
Chlorophyll
The sunlight has to be trapped and then used in the reaction to make
glucose. The green plants have a substance called chlorophyll which does
this. It is the green pigment in plants. It is kept inside the chloroplasts of
plant cells
6.3 Leaves
Photosynthesis happens inside chloroplasts. In a typical plant, most
chloroplasts are in the cell in the leaves. A leaf is a factory for making
carbohydrates. Leaves are therefore specially adapted for photosynthesis
to take place efficiently and quickly as possible
Leaf structure
A leaf consists of a broad, flat part called the lamina, which is joined to the
rest of the plant by a leaf stalk or petiole. Running through the petiole are
vascular bundles, which then form the veins of the leaf. These contain
tubes which carry substances to and from the leaf
The cells of the upper epidermis often secrete a waxy substance called a
cuticle. It helps to stop water from evaporating from the leaf
In the lower epidermis, there are small openings called stomata. Each
stoma is surrounded by a pair of guard cells. These cells do contain
chloroplast
The middle layer of the leaf are called mesophyll. These cells also contain
chloroplasts. The cells nearer to the top of the leaf are called the palisade
layer. The cells beneath them are rounder, arranged loosely, with large
spaces between them. They form the spongy layer
Each veins contain large and thick walled xylem vessels to carry water.
There are also small and thin walled phloem vessels for carrying sucrose
and other substance that the leaf has made
Leaf adaptations
Leaves are adapted to obtain carbon dioxide, water and sunlight
The leaf is held out in the air by the stem and the leaf stalk and its large
surface area helps leaves to absorb as much as possible
The cells which need carbon dioxide the most are the mesophyll cells
inside the leaf. The carbon dioxide gets into the leaf through the stomata
by diffusion. The carbon dioxide can diffuse to all cells in the leaf with the
help of the air spaces behind each stoma
Water
Water is obtained from the soil. It is absorbed by the root hairs and carried
up to the leaf by the xylem vessels. Then, it travels from the xylem vessels
to the mesophyll cells through osmosis
Sunlight
The position of the leaf and its large and flat surface helps leaves to obtain
as much sunlight as possible
The leaves of any tree are arranged in such a way that it gets as much
sunlight as possible. That is why trees that live in shady places often have
big leaves
The thinness of the leaf allows sunlight to penetrate to the mesophyll cells
which needs sunlight the most
Stored as starch
Glucose is a simple sugar. It is soluble in water and a reactive substance. If
not broken down, it might be dangerous.
Secondly, it would dissolve in the water in and around the plant cells and
might be lost from the cell
Plant can also use sugars that they have made in photosynthesis to make
amino acids which can be built up into proteins. To do this, they need
nitrogen.
The nitrate ions combine with glucose to make amino acids. The amino
acids are then strung together to form protein molecules
Another substance that plant make is chlorophyll. They need nitrogen and
magnesium which they absorb from the soil
If plants don't get enough nitrogen from the soil, farmers often add extra
mineral ions to the soil for crops to grow
Sunlight
In the dark, photosynthesis can't take place at all in plants. In the dim light,
plants can photosynthesis slowly. As the light intensity increases, the rate
of photosynthesis increases, until it comes to a point where the rate of
photosynthesis can not increase any more
In point A and B, the light is said to be a limiting factor which means that
light present in the environment is in such short supply that it restricts life
processes
In point B and C, light is not a limiting factor because there is enough light
for photosynthesis to take place
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide can also be a limiting factor. The more carbon dioxide a
plant is given, the faster the photosynthesis can happen up to a certain
point
Temperature
The chemical reactions of photosynthesis take place very slowly at low
temperatures. So, a plant can photosynthesize faster on a warm day