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(10/19) Classifying Plants

Last updated about 5 years ago
11 questions

Classifying Plants

The way scientists classify plants is similar to the way they classify animals. Most plants have three main parts – roots, stems, and leaves.

· Roots- take in water and nutrients from the soil
· Stems – move water and nutrients from the roots to the leaves, and support plant parts
· Leaves – capture the energy of sunlight and use it to make food for the plant


10

The three main parts of a plant are roots, stems, and leaves.

All plants are producers, meaning they make or “produce” their own food. The process by which plants use sunlight to make food is called photosynthesis. Plants take in water from the soil and carbon dioxide gas from the air. In the leaves, a green material called chlorophyll traps sunlight. The energy of sunlight changes water and carbon dioxide into sugar and oxygen. Plants use the sugar for food and release the oxygen into the air as waste.


10

The green material in the leaves that traps sunlight and aids in photosynthesis is called _____________________ .

One way scientists classify plants is by how they reproduce.

Reproduce means to make more of its own kind.

Plants reproduce by seeds or spores



Seeds


A seed is a plant part that contains a tiny new plant or embryo. The seed protects the new plant and contains food to help it start growing. For example, inside a sunflower seed is a "baby" sunflower plant. The seed protects the "baby" plant and provides food so the "baby" can grow.








Another example is an apple seed. Apple trees produce apples, which are their fruit. Inside the fruit are seeds that can grow into new apple trees.









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Which word means to make more of its own kind?

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A plant part that contains a tiny new plant - or embryo

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Examples of plants that produce seeds

Scientists divide seed plants into two more large groups: Plants that flower and plants that form cones.

Most plants form seeds in parts of flowers, but some make seeds in cones.





Plants that make seeds in cones are called coniferous plants or conifers. Pine trees are conifers, and there are other examples in the image below.

Most coniferous trees are evergreens, meaning they do not lose their leaves in the winter. A pine tree is an example of a conifer. It produces its seeds in cones, and it keeps its needles all year long (which makes it an evergreen). In the image below, there is a mixture of evergreen trees and deciduous trees. A deciduous tree loses its leaves each year before winter. The deciduous trees are the trees whose leaves turn pretty colors in the fall. After the leaves change colors, they die and fall from the tree, leaving just the trunk and branches visible.





Georgia has an abundance of evergreen and deciduous trees. (Abundance means a lot!)
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Most plants form seeds in flowers, but some plants form seeds in cones

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Plants that form seeds in cones are called

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Most conifers are evergreens, which means they do not lose their leaves before winter.

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Trees that lose their leaves before winter are called

Spores

A spore is a plant cell that can grow into a new plant. When a spore drops into the soil, it may become a new plant if conditions are right. If the spore lands in a spot that provides sunlight and water it has a very good chance of becoming a new plant. Plants that reproduce by spores are mosses, liverworts, and ferns.

Most plants that reproduce from spores are small with tiny leaves and stems that grow very close to the ground. Their small size allows them to absorb all the water they need to survive.


Below is a picture of moss. There are many different kinds of mosses:



The next image shows another plant that reproduces by spores. It is called liverwort, and it grows close to the ground like moss.





The image below is a type of fern. There are many different kinds of ferns. In the image that follows, you can see the spores on the back of the fern fronds. Fronds are what the fern leaves are called.





When a plant releases spores, the spores can be carried far distances by wind. It is possible for a fern to grow very far away from the "parent" plant.
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A spore is a plant cell that can grow into a new plant.

Scientists also compare plants’ roots, stems, and leaves. Leaves have many different shapes and sizes.



The vein pattern in leaves is also different. The following image shows the veins in a leaf. Different leaves often have a different pattern of veins.








You can often tell how a tree is classified by looking at at its leaves.
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You can often tell how a tree is classified by looking at its leaves.