SBI 3U: TRANSPORT MECHANISMS WITHIN VASCULAR PLANTS WORKSHEET

PART A: LEAVES
Green leaves the major sites of photosynthesis b/c they contain chlorophyll, the green pigment needed to capture light energy. Leaves must also be able to obtain carbon dioxide from the air and water to use to make sugars; leaves must not dry out in bright sun, hot dry air and must survive against herbivores. here are lots of different shapes, si!es and textures of leaves due to these issues. "n general, leaves are divided into # categories. Simple leaves have a single, undivided blade $the broad part of the leaf% and Compou ! Leaves have a blade divided into # or more leaflets.

LEA0 BLA1ES

&ylem and phloem tissue continue from the stems into the leaves, forming part of the vascular bundles. hese bundles are called VEINS" he veins in a leaf branch out extensively so that the xylem and phloem are close to the mesophyll cells. 'emember, xylem carries water and dissolved minerals form the soil, and phloem transports the products of photosynthesis, glucose, in the leaf mesophyll cells, to all parts of the plant. he conducting tissues found in the leaf are continuous with those in the stem and root. #See PICTURE o sli!e $ %&om 'pla (s ) !a* + pp(,Ve a(io is the pattern of veins in the blade of a leaf. he vein consists of vascular tissues which are important in the transport of food and water; in new veins branch and rebranch throughout the whole leaf, the leaf has e( ve a(io . if new leaf veins tend to run from the leaf stalk to the leaf tip without joining one another, leaf is said to have pa&allel ve a(io "

/ues(io s:
(. )hich picture is showing net venation, and which is showing parallel venation*

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B. _______________________

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)hat is the major difference between a single leaf and a compound leaf* +raw and label this difference.

PART B: ROOTS
'oots are classified into # major types, (ap&oo(- root systems where the primary root remains predominant, though very small secondary roots are present and %i2&ous &oo(- root systems whose primary roots have disintegrated and were replaced by other smaller roots. .ee the picture on the left hand side below.

$P euma(op3o&es i a Ke *a S4amp%
.ome plants have roots that evolved special structures or habits that allow plants to survive in special situations / in waterlogged, oxygen0poor soils $swamp%, roots may have speciali!ed extensions 5alle! p euma(op3o&es which grow up and out of the water and function to supply oxygen to the root tissues below. .ee the picture on the right side above. his speciali!ed 1breathing2 root developed in some plant species that grow in waterlogged or strongly compacted soils, e.g. mangroves. he aerial part of the root contains many pores, enabling gas exchange / oxygen enters by osmosis 0 with the atmosphere. "nternally, a well developed system of intercellular spaces allows gases to diffuse throughout the submerged portion of the roots. Wa(e& T&a spo&( i Roo(s 'oot hairs absorb essential minerals from the soil by active transport, a movement process that re3uires energy. 4nce inside, the minerals are moved to the center of the root where the wax0coated endodermis $a layer of cells around the vascular bundle in the roots% prevents them from diffusing back out to the soil. his concentration of minerals creates xylem sap that is hypertonic relative to soil water outside the root. 5s a result, the hypotonic soil water enters the root by osmosis. 6nergy is not re3uired for water entry but is needed for mineral transport $active transport%. his accumulation of water and dissolved minerals creates pressure and this pressure pushed the sap up the xylem. his pressure is called ROOT PRESSURE" 'oot pressure is able to push water up to only a maximum of a few meters in some plants. 7owever, there are many trees, such as giant redwoods, that are over (88 m tall99 5lso, in many plants there is no measurable root pressure. :learly, root pressure cannot entirely account for xylem sap movement. /ues(io s: (. )hat is the difference between a taproot and a fibrous root*

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)hy are pneumatophores so important to certain plants*

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7ow does root pressure form within the root*

PART C: STEMS
.o, you know that root pressure cannot entirely account for xylem sap movement. )hat are other factors that push xylem sap up the plant* )ell, you need to know that 4a(e& 5li 6s &ea!il* (o a va&ie(* o% o 7oil* su&%a5es. his phenomenon is known as a!3esio . his principle is demonstrated every time you dry yourself with a towel. )ater clings more readily to the fibre of the towel than to your skin, which is oily compared to the towel. )hen a drop of water on your skin comes into contact with the towel, it 1flows2 and adheres to the towel fibres. his same principle accounts for the movement of water into sponges even if the movement of molecules is against gravity, as it is in the xylem. )ater adheres to the inner walls of the xylem, creating a 1pulling2 force on the column of water molecules. he ability of water to stick to itself is known as 5o3esio . <ecause of the hydrogen bonding between adjacent water molecules, very strong forces of attraction are created between water molecules. "f you have ever tried to pry apart # wet microscope slides, you will have noticed how tightly they stick together. he water between them slides acts like glue9 5 xylem vessel may be very long, but it does not contain much water because it has a small diameter. he cohesion of water molecules in this long cylinder results in the water column 3ol!i 6 (o6e(3e& 5o (i uousl* from the ground to the top of the highest leaves9 his narrow column of water is incredibly strong; it has the same strength as steel wire of the same diameter9 his is more than enough to support a column of water in the tallest trees. "f a 1pull2 at the top of this water column were exerted, there would be enough cohesive strength to draw water all the way from the roots to the top of the plant. he 1pull2 re3uired comes from the leaves via a process called (&a spi&a(io pull" )hat is this transpiration pull* )ater evaporates from the inner leaf cell walls into the air spaces and out through the stomata if they are open. his water loss creates a &e!u5e! p&essu&e in the leaves and water flows upwards from the roots where there is a relatively higher pressure. his lost water is replaced by bulk flow from the roots. )hen water moves upwards from the roots, the cell membranes of the root cells allow more water and dissolved minerals to enter by osmosis and active transport, respectively.

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/ues(io s: (. )hat does water transport in the xylem depend on within the plant* <reifely describe each of these factors. +oes water transport within the plant depend upon energy of any sort or does it occur passively*

A Ca a!ia P&o!u5( 1e&ive! %&om 8*lem Sap "n Aorth 5merica, the xylem spa of the sugar maple tree is put to use. "n early spring, when the days are warm and the night temperatures fall below free!ing, sugar maples begin to convert starches, stored in the roots, into sugars and send them up the xylem to the branches to the developing leaf and flower buds. o make maple syrup, holes are tapped into the xylem to collect the clear xylem sap. raditionally, a special metal tube was driven into a sugar maple tree and a bucket was hung on the tube. Aow, plastic tubing is usually connected to the metal tubes and the sap is drawn by a pump to a central location. Caple syrup producers then boil this sap down to remove most of the water. 5bout D8 L of sap are needed to produce one litre of pure maple syrup99

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.peculate why sugar maple trees demonstrate the importance of plants to the growth of :anadian society. )hy is this xylem sap, better known as maple syrup, so important to our society*

PART 1 ) LEAVES A9AIN:

Use your notes Plants Day 2 ppt as well as the information given below to answer the following questions , :arbon dioxide from the atmosphere is one of the raw materials used by the chloroplasts to manufacture sugars. "n general, the stomata are open during daylight hours to allow in the carbon dioxide needed for photosynthesis and to allow water vapour out. 4xygen, a by0product of photosynthesis, is also released through the open stomata into the atmosphere. .ince photosynthesis can2t happen at night, carbon dioxide is not needed, so the stomata are usually closed at night to prevent excess water loss. Elants are also able to close their stomata during the day, depending on environmental conditions. )hen it2s too hot or when there is a lack of water in the soil, plants can close their stomata until conditions improve. 6ach stomata is surrounded by # 6ua&! 5ells. he guard cells are speciali!ed, kidney0shaped epidermal cells containing chloroplasts. he closing and opening of stomata are regulated by the levels of water and carbon dioxide in the guard cells during a complex process. Cost of the water entering the leaves is lost through the process of (&a spi&a(io " 5s each water molecule evaporates during transpiration, it 1pulls2 on the adjacent water molecules. hese molecules in turn pull on the next, and so on, in an unbroken cohesive chain all the way to the root hairs. he evaporation of li3uid head energy, which comes form the environment around the plant. hus, the plant uses heat energy from its surrounding to pull water from the roots to the top of the plant. &ylem sap movement $water and minerals in the plant% is dependent of the rate of transpiration. "f the air temperature is low, in a northern climate, the rate of evaporation is low. <ut if the temperature is high, this rate is also high. hat is, the faster water evaporates from the leaves, the faster sap will rise. (. 6xplain why most plants have stomata mainly on the lower surface of their leaves.

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)hy are guard cells important to stomata*

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Eredict the environment in which you would expect to find plants with several layers of palisade mesophyll cells densely packed with chloroplasts. 6xplain why.