Download Common Plant Parts

Plant
Adaptations
Common Plant Parts
There are more than half a million different
types of plants, and even though they look
different, they all have some common parts.
Most plants have:
roots
stems
leaves
flowers
seeds
Common Plant Parts
Plants also have adaptations that make it
easier for them to live in their environment.
obtaining food
Root functions
Act as anchors to keep the plant in the
ground.
Take in water an minerals from the soil.
Some roots store food.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cycads_root.png
obtaining food
Root adaptations
Roots must adapt to many different
environments
Spread out and create a shallow root system
Grow a deep tap root
Grow above ground to support the tree
Store food for later use
obtaining food
Leaf functions
To gather sunlight for photosynthesis
To absorb some water and carbon dioxide
To protect the plant
Leaves have many shapes
and sizes, all depending on
the environment and how
much sunlight the plant
needs.
obtaining food
To gather sunlight for photosynthesis
movement
• Plant can move in response to some stimuli.
•
•
•
•
gravitropism
thigmotropism
phototropism
hydrortopism
protection
Stem functions
Hold the plant upright and support the
leaves
Carry water, minerals and food around the
plant
Defend the plant against consumers
protection
Stems and trunks must adapt to many
different environments
Rigid and made of bark
Flexible and not made of bark
Have xylem to carry water and food around the plant
Defenses against consumers
reproduction
Flower functions
Attract pollinators
Contains the reproductive parts of the
plant
reproduction
Attract pollinators
Mimics a
female
insect to
attract a
male insect
Smells sweet to attract bees
Smells like rotten
meat to attract flies
reproduction
Seed functions
Protect the seedling
Help the seed to move
reproduction
Help the seed to move
Projectile-seeds
thrown from plant
Burrsstick to
animals
Dispersal by
water
Seeds pass through
a digestive track
Dispersal by wind
3 Need-to-Know Examples of
Internal Adaptations
• Hollow bones in Birds
• Gills in Fish
• Xylem in Plants
Hollow Bones in Birds
Hollow Bones in Birds
Hollow Bones in Birds
Internal Structure:
Hollow Bones
Function:
• Hollow bones is just one of the advantages birds
have gained through evolution. This makes them
light, and a light body allows them to fly faster,
using less energy.
• It takes a lot of energy to fly. The more a bird weighs,
the more energy it takes to fly.
• Eagles, for example, have a lightweight frame that
gives them maximum strength with the least possible
amount of weight.
• In fact, the weight of an eagle's skeleton is only half a
pound.
Gills in Fish
Gills in Fish
Internal Structure:
Gills
Function:
• Gills are the respiratory organs of fish.
• First, a fish swallows water through its mouth. Then
the water flows over the gills.
• The gills take out oxygen from the water which
passes back out of the fish.
• The oxygen is then absorbed through the capillaries
into the blood stream of the fish.
Xylem In Plants
Cross section of oak xylem
Xylem In Plants
Xylem In Plants
Internal Structure:
Xylem
Function:
• Part of a plant's vascular system that transports
water and minerals from the roots to the rest of
the plant and furnishes support.
• The xylem makes up the major part of a stem or root
and the wood of a tree.
• The xylem consists of special water-conducting
tissues made up mostly of several types of narrow,
long, hollow cells.
Internal
Adaptations of an
Archer Fish
In the quiet waters of
the Orient, there is an
unusual fish known as
the Archer fish. It is
unlike any other fish in
that it finds its prey
outside of the water.
The archer fish are
known for their habit of
preying on land-based
insects and other small
animals by literally
shooting them down
with water droplets from
their specialized
mouths.
Click on the picture below to watch
a video of the amazing archer fish.
Click here
Adaptation and Environmental
Change
• If an organism’s environment changes, the
characteristics that it has inherited will
determine if it can adapt and survive.
pandas cannot adapt well
to new environments
coyotes easily adapt to
any environment