Biology Book Report

Book Title:
World of Plants
Author:
Laura Howell
Publisher:
Us borne Publishing Ltd
ISPN:
E00443
Library Call No: 580 HOW (SEC LB)
Chapter:
22

Book/Chapter summary:
This book investigates the fascinating lives of plants and fungi and the vital roles they both
play on Earth.
It also provides the details of a number of plants and fungi which are used by people for
medicine, food and other purposes which vary greatly around the world. Some countries use a
kind of fruit just simply for its taste but another may use them for medicinal qualities such as
Aniseed, Belladonna etc. This book introduces flowering plants, water plants, flowerless plants
and how they reproduce, their structures and type. Moreover, the fungi and the seeds and
fruit. Secondly, it tells about how plants living in different areas and the relationships between
them and people, environments. Thirdly, it talks about how scientists work on plants like
organize and breeding them artificially. In addition, this book introduces the leaves, plants,
stems and roots.
Plants stems and roots which plants is mainly supported by and are for carrying fluids. The
main parts of a stem have terminal bud, node etc. There are different types of roots like tap
root, fibrous root and carrots are known as root vegetables. Besides human bodies have
tissues, plants also have except algae, mosses and liverworts. Vascular plants contain a
complex system of vascular tissue which has two types, xylem and phloem. Xylem carried
water while phloem carried food. The book also says about the growth of plants tissues and
secondary thickening which in early or late wood. Leaves of plants are the main food-making
parts. There have simple and compound leaves, per foliate leaves, bract. Leaf has a long
central vein called the midrib and have brunches of smaller vein besides. The whole system
called venation. This book also gives a numerous details and reasons of different plant
conditions such as guttation, wilting and plasmoplysis. It introduces different kinds of plants
such as hemi parasites, saprotrophs, the seed surfaces and types of fruit like true and false
fruit, dry fruit, cones. There are water plants called hydrophytes such as emergent, flowerless
plants like ferns, fungi like moulds which help or harm the other living things. Different plants
in the world used different methods for living in some harsh places like desert. Xerophytes
have spines to save water in dry place. Halophytes have salt bladders for living in some saline
place. Lithophytes have special roots for anchor to rocks. Some use camouflage to fight for
others attacks such as laying eggs. Plants life is described as annuals, biennials, perennials,
ephemerals. Some are evergreen or deciduous which live in biomes like scrublands, tundra
etc. It also described that how scientists classified different plants into kingdoms or divisions
like monera, protista, cycads, bryophytes.
This book not only relate with my present study but also later study like plant genetics and
biological technology which may have harm or help. For example, selective breeding. This
book has the parts that introduce the plants cells, the water movement, transpiration, and the
process of photosynthesis, the response of plants such as tropism, hydrotropism, and
thigmotropism. The reproduction of plant, the female and male parts and how they attract
animals or reproduce by wind, water. Dispersal or germination. There also have vegetative
reproduction and artificial propagation like corms. It also includes the intensive farming, GM
food, crop rotation and global warming.

5 NEW knowledge/concepts learnt from the book:

The movement of fluids inside a plant is

called translocation. There are some
vapour escapes through tiny holes called
stomata on the underside of the leaves.
This type of water loss is called
transpiration. As the outer leaf cells lose
water by transpiration, the concentration of
minerals and sugars inside the leaves
increase. Therefore, water from cells
further in passes into the outer cells to
replace the water that has been lost.
Because of this, the roots pull up the water
in the soil to the plants which called a
transpiration stream. However in some
plants, water in the soil still enters to the
roots continuously even in the humid days,
this is because it has a weak attraction to
the xylem walls. This is called capillary
action and makes the roots pressure builds
up in the roots. Because of too much water,
the plants cannot release the water just by
transpiration; droplets are forced out of the
plants along the edges of leaves which are
called guttation. This is a process of water
movement in plants.

Vacuoles are used to store waste and some useful

substances. They also support the plants when they are
full. Healthy plants usually stand firm and upright because
their vacuoles are full of cap sap and push outward against
the cytoplasm and the cell walls. The cell is called turgid
while the
plants are called turgor.

In hot and dry conditions, the plants may lose more water than usual.
The pressure in the vacuoles drops. This make the cells limp and cannot
support the plants much. The plants then became droops. This is called
wilting.

In the most extreme cases, a plant may lose too much water and the
roots are too dry or too much minerals. The cell vacuoles then shrink
and pull away from the cell walls. This is called plasmolysis. The plant
may kill unless it receives more water quickly.

Living things have seven charactists; one of them is

irritability which means they can sense the
environments and response to them. This is called
sensitivity or responding to a stimulus such as light,
touch, temperature. All the plants responses are called
tropism. Growing toward the stimulus is known as
positive tropism while growing away is negative tropism.
It is believed that the tropism is controlled by the auxins
chemicals make in plants cells. The light response of
plants is called phototropism which make plants react to
the amount of light available and the direction from
which is coming.
All the living things in the world respond to the pull of
gravity which is called geotropism. Also, they all need
water for maintain life. The roots of plants grow down in
the soil for obtain water and minerals. This water
response is called hydrotropism. There also have meateating plants in the world, they eat food by trap their food
when it touches sensitive parts of their surface. This
response is called thigmotropism. For example, some
climbing plants like vines twining together when they
touch something. Also, a plant called mimosa close and
droop when they touched by others. This is because their
vacuoles pressure drop when they touch.

Living things also have the ability to reproduce.

There have sexual reproduction which involves
plants male and female parts like stamens and
carpel. Their sex cells called gametes. When
they reproduce, they join together and this
known as fertilization.

When pollen, male grain lands on the stigma of a plant

of the same type, it forms a pollen tube which grows
ovule through tiny hole called micropyle. This is a
process called pollination. A pollen grain contains two
male nuclei. These travel down into ovary and enter and
the pollen tube and join with the ovule. One forms a
zygote which is the first cell of a new organism, other
forms a layer of protective tissue. Together these make a
seed and the ovary grows become a fruit. Reproduce
with the plants of the same kind is called crosspollination while pollinate themselves is called selfpollination.
This happen when the animals which help them
reproduce does not come. Plants have varied ways of
reproduction such as by animals, wind. The plants
which pollinated by animals have brightly colored
petals or sweet scents. It also have nectar guide on
nectar or extra pollen. The plants which pollinated by
wind only have unscented and small petals but their
cells hang outside the plants. The flowers plants
The dispersal of plants also makes the
plantsalso help pollination.
shapes
reproduce by animals, wind, and water. This helps
prevent new plants from completing with their
parents for space. Some plants with hooks for
sticking on animals have waterproof shells for
floating on water, light with papery wings for
flying in the air.

Beside above, plants can be reproduced in another

ways such as runners, corms, tubers, bulbs. Bulbs
and corms both can sprout extra one each year while
runners became plants when they touch the grounds.
The tubers store food which helps plants to grow after
winter.

Fungi also reproduce by push up through soil

and grow into fruiting bodies. Scientists now
also discover micro propagation to help
plants reproduction.
Amoebas not only unicellular and also
protista, single-celled organisms, such as
amoebas, which share features with both
plants and animals. Bacteria are monera
which is simple microscopic organism which
do not have a nucleus in their cells. Nucleus
contains genetic information which is making
up of a long chain of chemical called genes.
Genes is a place for containing coded
information about all the organisms traits.
Plants also fight for survival like
halophytes, xerophytes, lithophytes
in saline place, desserts and rocks.
Different plants obtain for water,
minerals and food in different ways
such as hemi parasites, epiphytes
etc.

10 NEW biological vocabularies

1.

Biological term
(Chinese and English)
Meristem

2.

Dermal tissue

3.

Annual ring

4.

Compound
leaves

5.

Pomes

6.

Grain

7.

Dispersal

8.

Vegetative
propagation

9.

Fungi

10.

Protective
adaptations

Definition

Example

A group of cells which divide to

provide new growth
It makes up the surface layer of
most plants
A single ring of xylem in a cross
section of a n older plant show
One years growth.
They are made up of small left
blades called leaflets, which grow
from central leaf stalk.
Fruits with a thick, fleshy outer
layer and a core, with the seeds
contained in a capsule
It also called caryopsis or a
kernel is a small dry fruit whose
wall has fused with the seed
coat.
It happens before seeds start to
grow into new plants and usually
carried away from the parent
plant for stopping completing for
space, light.
It
is
a
type
of
asexual
reproduction, which means it
does not involve a male and
female sex cell.
They
are
simple,
plant-like
organisms that never flower and
do not have true leaves, stems or
roots. t
Plants special features which
protect different plants from
hungry
animals
and
other
dangers.

Apical
meristems
Epidermis
Spring wood
Palmate leaves
Apple
Wheat

Animals
dispersal

Rhizomes

Moulds

Camouflage