Unit 1 Plants

1.1 Photosynthesis

• Where do you get your energy from?

• Your energy comes from the food that you eat.

• Energy is passed from one organism to another along a food chain.

• Every food chain begins with a plant.

• Plants capture energy from light, and transfer some of the energy into the food that they make.

• When we eat food, we get some of that energy.

• In this unit, we will look at how plants use energy from light to make food.
Making with light

• ‘Photo’ means to do with light.

• ‘Synthesis’ means ‘making’.

• So ‘photosynthesis’ means ‘making with light’.

• Photosynthesis is the way that plants make food, using energy from light.
Questions

1. Think of two more words that begin with ‘photo’. What does each of your
words mean?

2. In the food chain above, at which point does photosynthesis take place?
What else do plants need for photosynthesis?

• Plants use water in photosynthesis.

• They get the water from the soil.

• Plants use carbon dioxide in photosynthesis.

• They get the carbon dioxide from the air.

• You already know that plants make food by photosynthesis.

• But they also make a very important gas – oxygen.

• We can summarise photosynthesis like this

• Water and carbon dioxide are changed into food and oxygen, using energy
from light.
Biomass

• Plants use the food that they make in photosynthesis to make new cells and tissues.

• Material that is made of living cells and tissues is called biomass.

Activity 1.1

Plants and light (https://youtu.be/FZvAspm5fMo) (https://youtu.be/Sw46uQciI-A)

Ø You are going to find out what happens to plants that do not get light.

1. Sow some small seeds on damp filter paper, in two identical dishes. Leave them in a
warm place to germinate. Make sure that they do not dry out.

2. When the seeds have germinated, put one set into a dark cupboard, or into a closed
cardboard box. Leave the other set in a light place. Keep giving them both a little
water. Try to make sure that the temperature is the same for both sets of seedlings.

3. After two days, compare the appearance of the two sets of seedlings. You could also
make labelled drawings of a seedling from each set.
Questions

A1. Explain why it was important to keep one set of seedlings in the light.

A2. Explain why it was important that the temperature was the same for
both sets of seedlings.
Summary
• Photosynthesis is the way that plants make food, using energy from light.
• Some of the food that is made becomes new biomass in the plant.
• Plants use water and carbon dioxide in photosynthesis.
• Plants make food and oxygen by photosynthesis.
1.2
Leaves
• In most plants, the leaves are the
organs that carry out photosynthesis.
Chlorophyll

• Most leaves are green.

• This is because they contain a green pigment called

chlorophyll. (A pigment is a coloured substance.)

• Chlorophyll is essential for photosynthesis.

• Chlorophyll captures energy from light.

• The leaf can then use this energy to make food.

Questions
1. Think about what you know about the structure of cells. What is the name of the
part of a plant cell – also beginning with ‘chloro’ – that contains chlorophyll?

2. Suggest why leaves are green, but roots are not.

3. Think back to Activity 1.1, where you grew some seedlings in the dark. What
happened to the chlorophyll in them?

https://youtu.be/pwymX2LxnQs

https://youtu.be/_iYpm1ryYAg
Activity 1.2
Which surface has the most stomata?
• Take a fresh, green leaf.

• Push the leaf into some warm water.

• Watch carefully to see where air bubbles appear on the leaf

surface.
Questions
1. On which surface of the leaf did most bubbles appear?

2. The bubbles contained gas that came out from inside the leaf. Which
part of the leaf do you think the gas came from? (Look at the diagram of
the inside of the leaf above.)

3. Suggest how the gas got out of the leaf.

4. Use what you know about the eff ect of heat on gases to explain why
the gases came out of the leaf when it was put into warm water.
Summary

• Leaves are adapted to carry out photosynthesis.

• Leaves are green because they contain the green pigment

chlorophyll, which absorbs energy from light.

• Leaves have tiny holes in their lower surfaces, called stomata,

which allow carbon dioxide to get into the leaf from the air.
1.3
Investigating photosynthesis
• How can we tell if a leaf is photosynthesising?

• One of the simplest ways is to check if it is giving off (releasing)

oxygen gas.

• This is easiest to do if the leaf is under water, because the

oxygen gas makes bubbles.
 Activity 1.3A
Collecting the gas produced in photosynthesis
https://youtu.be/3RBl3xqnCrc
• The diagram shows the apparatus you need to
set up for this experiment.

• You can use any plant that grows under water.

• You can usually get pond weed at a pet shop,

because people buy it to put into fish tanks.

• If you live near the sea, you can use seaweed

instead.
• Leave the apparatus in a place where the plant will get plenty of light.

• If it is very warm and sunny, you may see the gas collecting quickly.

• If it is colder and not so bright, you may need to leave it for a day to
give time for the gas to collect.

• When you have collected about half a test tube of gas, you can test it
to see if it is oxygen, like this:

1. Put your hand into the water in the beaker, and hold the test tube
near its opening. Put your thumb over the opening, taking care to keep
the test tube under water.
2. Keeping the tube open end downwards, take it out of the water.

3. Get a partner to light a wooden splint, then blow it out so that it is just
glowing.

4. Now gently take off your thumb, to let the water fall out of the tube.

5. When all the water has fallen out, quickly but carefully put the
glowing splint into the tube. Try not to touch the wet sides, or you will
put it out!

6. If the gas is oxygen, it will make the glowing splint burst into flame.
Questions

1. Explain why you needed to use a water plant for this

experiment.

2. Explain why you needed to leave the apparatus in a light place.

Activity 1.3B
Investigating the rate of photosynthesis
https://youtu.be/id0aO_OdFwA

• You are going to plan and carry out an experiment to investigate this
question:

• Is there a correlation between light intensity and the rate of

photosynthesis?

• A correlation is a relationship. If there is a correlation between light

intensity and photosynthesis, then we would expect that changing the
light intensity will result in a change in the rate of photosynthesis.
1. Write out your plan for your experiment.
• Here are some ideas you can use.
• You can use a water plant like the one that you used for Activity 1.3A.
• To measure the rate of photosynthesis, you can measure how much gas
the plant gives off in a certain length of time. For example, you can
measure the depth of gas that collects in the test tube in one hour. For a
quicker experiment, you can count how many bubbles the weed gives off
in one minute. If you do that, then you don’t need a funnel or test tube to
collect the gas
• To give the plant a high light intensity, you can place a lamp
close to the plant. For a lower light intensity, place the lamp
further away.

• Think carefully about all the variables that you must keep the
same in your experiment.

• Decide whether you should do several repeats for each light

intensity, so you can calculate a mean for each one.
2. Predict the results you expect to get, and explain why.

3. Check your plan with your teacher before you begin.

4. Now carry out your experiment. Make changes to your plan if you
think you can improve it.

5. Record and display your results so someone else can easily

understand them.

6. Write down a short conclusion to your experiment, and compare

your results with your predictions.
Summary

• A good way to find out if a water plant is photosynthesising is to see

if it gives off bubbles of oxygen.

• If photosynthesis is happening at a faster rate, then more oxygen is

given off per minute.
1.4 Roots

• Roots are usually underground,

so we often do not notice them.
But, for many plants, the roots
take up just as much space as
the above-ground parts of the
plant.
Functions of roots

• The roots of a plant have several functions.

• Roots absorb water and minerals from the soil. These are then
transported to all the other parts of the plant.

• Roots anchor the plant fi rmly in the ground, so it is not pulled out
when the wind blows strongly, or when an animal pulls on the leaves.
• Some plants store food in their roots.

• When conditions are diffi cult – for

example, in a cold winter, or a dry summer
– some plants allow their
above_x0002_ground parts to die. Only
the underground roots continue to live.
New shoots (above-ground parts) grow
from the roots when conditions become
better.
Activity 1.4A
Roots for food
• We make use of many roots that store food. The plant stores the food
for its own use, but we can also eat this food.

• Choose two diff erent roots that humans eat as food.

• For each root, fi nd out what the complete plant looks like.

• Make a labelled drawing of the plant. Describe how we use the root
for food.
How roots absorb water and minerals

• Soil is made up of tiny rock particles. There is usually water in the

spaces between the particles. There are minerals dissolved in the
water.

• You may remember that special cells called root hairs grow out of the
surface of roots. Root hair cells provide a really big surface through
which water and minerals can be absorbed.
Questions

1 Explain how the absorption of water by roots helps photosynthesis to

take place.

2 Suggest why most plants die very quickly if their roots are cut off .

3 Explain how root hairs help plants to absorb a lot of water in a short
time.
Activity 1.4B
Which way up?
• 1 Take a tall glass jar. Roll up a piece of strong
absorbent paper so that it fits inside the jar. Add a little
water and allow it to soak into the paper.

• 2 Take three soaked bean seeds. Carefully put them

between the paper and the side of the jar. Place each
one a diff erent way up.
• 3 Put the jar in a warm place. Check it each day to see if it
needs more water – it is important to keep the seeds moist but
not too wet.

• 4 When all of the seeds have grown roots, make drawings of

them.
Questions

• A1 What do you notice about the directions the roots have grown in?

• A2 Suggest how this would help a bean plant to survive.

Summary

• Roots absorb water and minerals from the spaces between soil
particles.

• Roots anchor a plant in the ground.

• Roots can store food for the plant.

• Roots can sometimes survive harsh conditions that kill the above
ground parts of the plant.