Section 1: Intro to plants.
1. Summarize how plants are adapted to living successfully on land. What were the obstacles they had to
overcome? List and describe the main 3.
Being able to absorb nutrients, prevent water loss, and reproduce on land.
2. Define vascular and non-vascular plants. Describe 2 differences between vascular and non-vascular plants.
Vascular = those with xylem & phloem.
Non-vascular = those that circulate water and nutrients cell-to-cell, without the assistance of veins.
Vascular plants can be much larger and have many more specialized cells, including those responsible for
reproduction.
3. Describe the adaptation of the seed. What are the 4 benefits of having seeds? Describe each of them.
A seed is a structure that contains an embryo. These appear only in vascular plants. The benefits are: 1) they
protect the seed from damage and disease. 2) they provide nutrients for the seedling 3)they allow for a
variety of methods of dispersal 4) they can allow for delayed growth, ensuring the environment is suitable for
development.
4. Describe the adaptation of the flower. What is its benefit?
This adaptation, one that produces pollen and seeds, is beneficial as it is designed to attract organisms, such
as insects, to help pollinate them.
5. List and describe the 3 main types of non-vascular plants. What are the 3 key features of them?
Mosses – leafy green plants with conductive cells that transport water short distances
Liverworts – grow in mats but lack conducting cells.
Hornworts – no conducting cells
3 features: Small, larger gametophyte (the haploid cells that forms a gamete (sperm or egg)), require water
for sexual reproduction.
6. List and describe the kinds of seedless vascular plants. What are the 3 key features of seedless vascular plants?
Key features: vascular system, larger sporophyte (stage that produces the gametophyte), drought resistant
spores (not seeds though)
Ferns – large sporophyte (what we commonly know as a fern)
Club mosses – roots, stems, and leaves (unlike true mosses that are non-vascular plants)
Horsetails – form cone-like structures for spores
Whisk ferns – no stems, roots, or leaves. Short branches produce spores.
7. List and describe the phylum Pterophyta.
Ferns
8. What are gymnosperms? List and describe the 3 key features.
Seed plants where seeds don’t produce in fruit. Cone trees = conifers.
Features = Seeds, much smaller gametophyte, wind pollination
9. List and describe the phylum Coniferophyta.
Most familiar gymnosperm. Redwoods, pine trees, these plants are adapted to reduce water loss by having
very small, tough leaves called needles.
10. What are angiosperms? List and describe the 3 key features.
Plants that produce seeds within fruit.
Flowers – site where male & female gametophytes are produced = promotes fertilization more efficiently
Fruit – body that promotes seed dispersal
Endosperm – stored food that supplies the seed with energy for initial germination (growth)
11. What are the 2 kinds of angiosperms? Describe the differences in seed leaves, flower structure, and leaf
structure.
Monocots = one seed leaf, flowers have petals in multiples of three, narrow leaves with parallel veins
Dicots = two seed leaves, flower petals in multiples of 2, 4, or 5, leaves with branching veins.
12. List and describe 5 ways we incorporate plants as food in our lives.
Fruits & veggies, root crops, legumes, cereals, wheat, corn, rice
13. List and describe 3 ways we incorporate plants as nonfood in our lives.
Wood, medicines, fibers
Plant Vocabulary. Define these terms on a separate sheet of paper.
1. angiosperm
2. cuticle
3. endosperm
4. nonvascular plant
5. phloem
6. seed
7. vascular plant
8. vascular tissue
9. woody tissue
10. xylem
11. cotyledon
12. dicot
13. monocot
Construct a word search for the terms as per group assignments.
1. 1-10
2. 3-12
3. 7-16
4. 10-19
5. 14-23
6. 15-26
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
ovary
apical meristem
epidermis
meristem
vascular cambium
cortex
endodermis
root cap
root hair
taproot
guard cells
spongy mesophyll
stomata