PLANTS: NUTRITION

Plants are living things.

Nutrition is one of the basic life processes to all living things. The nutrients that living things obtain provide energy to the organism.
Remember that nutrition includes to breathe and to eat.

• to BREATHE: exchange of gases in an organism, it is also called RESPIRATION. Plants take oxigen (O2) from the air and release carbon dioxide (CO2), exactly like people do. Plants need to breathe all day and night, exactly like people do.

• to EAT: plants are autotrophos, this means that they can make their own food. The process in which plants make their food is called PHOTOSYNTESIS. Photosyntesis only occurs during the day because it is necessary sunlight.

 

Here you have some videos about this process:

 

PLANTS: REPRODUCTION

Flowering plants are those which reproduce by flowers. Plants that have flowers reproduce from seeds.

FLOWERS are the reproductive organs in the plant; they can be female or male:

• female organ: it is called carpel and it is formed by the stigma and the ovary; inside the ovary there are ovules.
• male organ: it is called stamen and it produces pollen.

 

POLLINATION is the movement of pollen from the stamens to the ovary. It usually takes place in the same plant. However, wind and insects also carry pollen to other plants.

This is a simple video about pollination:

 

FERTILIZATION is when the pollen reaches the ovule inside the ovary. The fertilized ovule transforms into a seed. The petals fall off the flower and the ovary develops into a fruit.

Let´s see an interesting video about fruit development:
 

 

GERMINATION is the process by which a seed landed on the ground can grow into a new plant. For a seed to germinate, the ground must be wet and the temperature must be warm.

 

The REPRODUCTION PROCESS is a cycle (no beginning no end).
Flowers are the reproductive organs in which pollen and ovules are formed. Polen and ovules mix in an act called pollination and the flower transforms into a fruit. Fruits contain the seeds. Seeds fall to the soil and germinate that is, a new plant can grow.

Let´s see a video that summarizes all these concepts: