6th Grade Science

Chapter 11 Plants

Notes Section

11.1

• What are the basic features of a plant?• Please draw / trace the plant on pg 315.• What are the essential structures of a plant?• Please draw / trace the 4 circles and the picture

inside it. Label the circles as leaf, cellulose, vessels, fruit and seeds.

Key Questions 1

• What are the number and characteristics of the known plants?

• 300,000 plant species have been discovered ranging from microscopic to a 100 meters high.

• What are the basic parts of the plant cell?• The plant cell has a membrane, a nucleus, and a

strong cell wall.

Key Questions 2

The Tadpole Galaxy

Biltmore House Gardens

Azalea Garden at Biltmore House

The worlds biggest flower the Rafflesia is also called the Stinking Corpse Lily. Its nicknames the Stinking Corpse Lilly because it gives of an odor that smells like rotting meat to attract flies.  This plant is a carnivore just like the Venus Fly Trap.

• What makes plants green?• Plants contain the green pigment chlorophyll.

Plants use chlorophyll to make their food. • How do plant use chlorophyll?• Plants use chlorophyll to make their food using a

process called photosynthesis.

Key Questions 3

The Sombrero Galaxy

These are Pink Lady’s Slippers in Clay County, North Carolina. The flower is a member of the orchid family. It prefers highly acidic soil, the kind that occurs commonly in pine forests. It also requires that a fungal mycelia be present in the soil, making it very difficult to cultivate the plant. It thrives in the eastern third of the nation, but while it is common in some areas, it is rare in others.

The black bat flower in Yunnan Province, China is exceptionally rare and quite beautiful. The flowers can reach over 12″ in diameter and each bloom typically has many “whiskers” that can grow to two feet or more in length.

The rare and beautiful Green Jade flower in South Africa of is distinct for its blue-green petals and navy-purple center. It looks like a fuschia plant on an acid trip.

According to the USDA, water hemlock or poison parsnip is “the most violently toxic plant in North America”. The flowers and stems are safe, but the stalky roots contain chambers that are full of a deadly sap containing the convulsant cicutoxin. Grand mal seizures are followed by a quick death if even a tiny amount is consumed.

• What is photosynthesis?• Photosynthesis is the process of plants using

water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight to make food and oxygen.

• What are Vascular and Non Vascular plants?• Vascular plants have tube-like structures that

carry water and nutrients throughout the plant. Nonvascular plants don’t have these tubes.

Key Questions 4

Nonvascular PlantsMoss

Algae cells have been found to produce extremely high amounts of oil.  These tiny organisms may hold the key to a renewable energy revolution.  Scientists and energy companies are studying this type of energy as a viable alternative to gas and diesel.

Hydnora Africana bears no resemblance to normal flowers except for its bright salmon to orange red color on the inside. White bait bodies that are found on the inner base of the flowers play a very important role in the life cycle of the plant. They omit a putrid odor to attract various carrion beetles and other insects which become trapped in the flowers. Numerous stiff bristles are found on the inner surface of the perianth lobes which restrain the trapped insect from escaping. After feeding on the bait bodies, the trapped insect drops down the flower tube.

1. List the characteristics of plants.2. Compare and contrast the characteristics of vascular

and nonvascular plants.3. Identify three adaptations that allow plants to survive on

land.4. Explain why binomial nomenclature is used to name

plants.5. If you left a board lying on the grass for a few days,

what would happen to the grass underneath the board? Why?

Questions Section 11.1