Notes Part 1 of 2:

Understanding Plants

The First Boss Battle (Test) Will be based on the information in all of

these slides.

Lesson 1

Why Do We Need Plants?

Key Points TodayPlants Provide Us With:

1. Food2. Oxygen3. Medicine4. Shelter5. Transportation6. Fuel 7. Paper8. Clothing

First Off…..What are Plants?

• Plants are living organisms that

1. Live and Grow in one spot. 2. Make sugar using sunlight….to feed themselves.3. Absorb water and healthy minerals using their

roots.4. Imagine you are able to drink water using your

toes. 5. The toes of a plant are called roots and they drink

from it.

Examples of Plants

•Shrubs•Trees•Herbs•Grasses•Moss•Ferns

Think About This!

We Would All Be Dead Without

Plants

1. Plants Provide Us With Food• We Eat Plants.

• Bread, rice, pasta, cereal, carrots, garlic, onion, tomatoes, apples, lettuce, and broccoli are all examples of plants that we eat.

• Some of you may be thinking…..”B-b-b-but, I don’t like to eat any of that stuff”.

• If that’s the case, then you probably eat beef, chicken, or fish. Newsflash….those animals eat plants.

• Basically, we would all starve to death without plants.

Staple Foods

• Staple foods are eaten regularly and in large amounts. Staple foods are important for our everyday needs.

• Grains are a staple food.

• Grains include: Wheat, rice, corn, and oats.

• Grains contain many healthy nutrients that our bodies need to survive.

Examples of Grains…Grains Are An Important Staple Food!

2. Plants Make Oxygen

-Plants Also make oxygen.

Oxygen is a gas in the air that all humans and animals need to breathe.

Without oxygen, we would suffocate and die.

Plants transform the unhealthy carbon dioxide that comes out of our breath into clean oxygen. This is called photosynthesis.

Factories Also Release a Lot of Carbon Dioxide

• Plants convert this nasty Carbon Dioxide into breathable Oxygen.

Side-Note: Some People Believe Talking To Plants Helps Them Grow Better…Actually!

• As goofy as it sounds….Maybe they are right….just… maybe.

• Why? Well, humans breathe out carbon dioxide.

• Plants breath in carbon dioxide and use it to grow.

• Without Carbon Dioxide, plants would die.

• More carbon dioxide = happier plants.

3. Plants Provide us With Medicine

Indigenous People used plants for medicine for thousands of years. For Example:

Bark from the Willow Tree• Reduces Headaches• Eases Lower Back Pain• Prevents Heart Attacks

Scientists today turned the chemical in this plant into a pill called………………..Wait for it…….

Asprin

Disease: Scurvy

• A disease caused when your body is deficient in vitamin C.

• Many plants make vitamin C (ex. Orange plants, lime plants, tomato plants)

• Symptoms: Teeth fall out, swollen gums, swollen-purple legs that look bruised.

• 7 million Americans suffer from Scurvy.

• Moral of the story: Eat your fruits and veggies.

More Plants That Indigenous People Used For Medicine

• Blackberries: treats upset stomach, diarrhea, swollen joints, sore throats, and bleeding gums.

• Rosemary: Cures sore joints, muscle pain, and improves memory.

• Mint: treats itchy skin and rashes. Also used to treat an upset stomach.

More Plants That Indigenous People Used For Medicine

• Sage: treats stomach pain, cuts, bruises, colds and flu.

• Ginger: treats ear-ache, ear infections, and nausea.

• Lavender: treats depression, headaches, insect bites and burns.

4. Plants Provide Us With Shelter

• Houses are often made of wood.

• Wood comes from plants.

5. Plants & Transportation

• Rubber comes from Trees.

• This tree is oozing out rubber.

• Rubber can be used to make car tires (transportation).

Indigenous People Used Plants For Transportation

These canoes are made of wood. Where does wood come from?

6. Plants Provide Us With Fuel

• Plants that died millions of years ago turned into gasoline, engine oil, and coal.

• Today, we use gasoline, engine oil, and coal to power engines.

• Without plants, we would not have fuel.

7. Plants & Paper• The word Paper comes from the word

Papyrus which is a type of plant.

• Ancient Egyptians flattened parts of this plant to make “paper”.

• Today paper is made using a variety of different trees and plants.

• Ex of paper: Toilet paper, cardboard, construction paper, power towels

8. Plants Provide Us With Clothing

• Most of our clothing is made from cotton.

• Cotton comes from the cotton plant.

• We can pick the cotton and use it to make towels, blankets, jeans, shirts, and jackets.

Lesson 2: Summary• We cannot survive without plants.

• They provide us withFoodOxygenMedicineShelter

TransportationFuelPaperClothing

• Even if you do not eat plants, the animals that you eat will eat plants.

Lesson 2: Parts of a Plant

Plants Have 4 Major Parts

Roots Stems Leaves

Flowers (Only Some plants make

flowers)

1. Roots

Garlic is another example of a root that we eat.

Roots usually grow underground so they are not typically seen.

When you are eating a carrot, you are eating the root of a carrot plant.

Carrot Stem & Leaves

Carrot Root

Ex. Parts of a Carrot Plant

What Do Roots Do?

• Roots Anchor Plants into the soil so that they don’t fall over or blow away. They are like the legs of the plant. Without legs, it would fall over.

• Roots also absorb water and nutrients from the soil so that the plant can live.

• Roots Also acts as a storage room for sugar that the plant makes.

• What kind of things would happen if a plant did not have roots?

ONE LAST SUPER IMPORTANT THING THAT ROOTS DO!

They stop the soil from blowing away by holding onto the soil.

Soils that do not have any plants growing blow or wash away easily.

Soils that have plants do not blow or wash away easily. This keeps farmers happy because they won’t lose their soil.

What is Happening In

This Experiment?

2. Stems

• The Stem is the highway that carries water, and sugar between the roots and the leaves.

• Water goes UP the stem and into the leaves.

• Sugar goes down the stem and into the roots.

3. Leaves• Leaves are the kitchen of the plant because they cook up the

most delicious sweet sugar for the plant to eat.

• Little green chefs called chlorophyll use a secret recipe to make sugar.

• Chlorophyll is what makes leaves look green.

• Secret Sugar Recipe: sunlight + carbon dioxide + water = sugar + oxygen!!!!

• The leaves are also the site where oxygen is released into the air.

What would happen to a plant if it did not have any leaves?

• It would die because it would not be able to make sugar.

What are those veiny things in the leaves?

• Good question. They are veins! They don’t carry blood though. Instead, they carry water and sugar.

4. Flowers

All flowers transform into fruits. Yes, you heard that right! All flowers will eventually turn into a

delicious fruit. Some are big juicy fruits like apples, watermellons, and pumpkins.

Others are tiny fruits like berries or even smaller.

Flowers have 2 jobs.

Make seedsPackage the seeds inside a beautiful

delicious fruit.

Flower on Tomato Plant

Magic Tomato…. BAM!

• “Why would a flower want to become a fruit and risk getting eaten because of its yumminess.” (is that even a word?)

• “Why would it want animals and birds to eat it? Does it actually want things to eat it? “

• Master M Replies: “Yes, that is absolutely correct. A flower wants animals and birds to eat it.”

• But Why?

• Because then those animals and birds will swallow the seeds and poop them elsewhere.

• Plants are not able to spread their seeds on their own because they are not able to walk. So instead, they get

Lesson 3 Summary

Roots: Absorb water, minerals, and anchor plants in soil.

Stem: Carries water up a plant, and sugar down the plant. Also supports the plant.Leaves: Make sugar using photosynthesis.Flowers: Become a Fruit that holds and stores seeds.

Lesson 3: What Do

Plants Need?

Lesson 2: What Do Plants Need?

Plants Need 4 things

1.Food2.Water3.Sunlight4.Soil

1. Plants Need Food• Would you feed a plant some pizza? • Of course not!• So What kind of food do plants require?

2 types

Sugar Nutrients

Sugar Is The Main Food!• Plants make their own sugar using the sun’s

energy. This is called PHOTOSYNTHESIS.

• Tiny green chefs called chlorophyll exist in all leaves. Mr. Chlorophyll is what makes leaves green.

• Mr. Chlorophyll has a secret recipe that he uses to make sugar.

• When the sun shines on Mr. chlorophyll, he uses his secret recipe to make some sugar for the plant to eat.

• Secret recipe: Carbon dioxide + Water + Sunlight = sugar and oxygen

I’m a cute little

Chlorophyll!

Seriously………..Plants Actually

Make Their Own Food…CRAAAZY!

Nutrients

• Plants also need nutrients to help them grow, but they are not able to “Make” nutrients like they are able to with sugar.

• They have to absorb nutrients from the soil using their roots.

• Imagine you were able to eat by sucking up food with your toes. Roots are like the toes of the plants and they absorb nutrients.

• Examples of nutrients: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium

Water

• Plants absorb water from the soil using their roots.• Water travels up the plant through the stem and into the leaves

where it is used to make sugar.• A droopy plant = a thirsty plant.

• Some plants can also absorb water through their leaves.

• Keep in mind that Fog is floating water

Soil

• Soil must be soft and fluffy so that air can get into the roots.• Roots need air.

• Soil also holds the plant so that it does not fall over.

• Soil is made of dead stuff which makes it very nutritious for plants.

• They absorb these yummy nutrients using their roots.

Plants Are Picky

• Some prefer hot environments.• Some prefer cold environments.• Some plants prefer plenty of water• Some plants prefer dry and hot

deserts.• Some plants prefer hard, dry, and

cracked soil.

• Some plants can even grow in cracks in the pavement.

Plants Are Picky• Some plants prefer a ton of light.

• Some plants prefer just a little bit of light.

• Some plants love water so much that they grown in ponds. Water lilies send their roots down to the bottom of a pond.

• The water lily floats its leaves on the surface of the pond to collect sunlight.

Seeds• Seeds are like little lunch boxes with a baby

plant inside.• When you water a seed, it swells up.• Soon it bursts.• Baby leaves pop out and point up. The seed

roots pop out and point down and start absorbing nutrients in the soil.

• At first, the baby plant uses the food inside of the seed for energy.

• When the plant gets big enough, it starts making its own food using the sun.