Mission 2 – page 1
Name: _________________________
Teacher: _______________________
Mission 2: The Root of the Matter
Mission 2: So now we know more about the Moon's environment. Since our goal is to
grow plants on the Moon, we need to learn more about plants and how they grow on
Earth. Then, we will start to put the information together!
Sections:
Plant Parts
Making New Plants
Plants and Gravity
Plant Parts
In this section, we will learn the parts of plants. Plants have roots that support the plant
and hold it in place. Roots also take in nutrients and water from the soil. The stem acts
as a highway to move water and nutrients from the roots to other parts of the plant.
Plants are called herbaceous or woody based on their stems. Herbaceous plants have
soft stems that usually die back to the ground during the winter. Woody plants are tough
and their stems do not die back to the ground.
Nutrients and water travel from the stems to the leaves. The leaves then use the water
and nutrients along with sunlight to make food. The food is sent to other parts of the
plant. The process in which plants make food is called photosynthesis. In
photosynthesis, the leaves use carbon dioxide from the air, nutrients, water, sunlight,
and a substance called chlorophyll to make their food, which is called glucose. The
process of photosynthesis releases oxygen into the air. Did you notice that in order to
make food, the plants use carbon dioxide? Humans breathe out carbon dioxide when
we exhale. Then, when the plants are making food, they give off oxygen. Humans
inhale oxygen and need it to live.
Leaves can come in many different shapes and sizes. They are designed to catch light
and have many openings called stomata that let air and water come and go. You
canonly see stomata using a microscope. Leaves are covered with a waxy coating
called a cuticle that protects them.
Making New Plants
When we think about how to grow new plants, most of us think of planting seeds. Each
seed is really a tiny plant in a package. Seeds are protected by a seed coat that can be
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thick or thin. Seeds have all of the materials inside of them that they need to form
leaves, stems, and roots. But, seeds stay dormant until the conditions are right for them
to begin to grow, usually warm and wet. Germination is when a root and a shoot begin
to grow out from the seed. This is the beginning of a new plant!
There are many things that can go wrong to cause poor germination. If a plant gets too
much water, then it might not have enough oxygen to grow. Also, very dry conditions
might mean that the plant cannot get enough water to germinate. If seeds are planted
too far in the ground, they might use up all their energy before they can get to the
sunlight.
Some plants have flowers. Flowers are not only pretty to look at, but they also help the
plant make seeds. Flowers can be made up of different parts, but there are some parts
that all flowers have. Sepals are the green petal-like parts at the bottom of the flower.
Sepals help protect the flower buds. The main flower parts are the male part called the
stamen and the female part called the pistil. The stamen is made of anthers and
filaments. The anthers carry the pollen and are generally yellow in color. Anthers are
held up by the filaments, a thread-like part.
The pistil is made of a stigma, a style, and an ovary. The stigma is the sticky surface
at the top of the pistil that traps and holds the pollen. The style is tube-like and holds up
the stigma. The style leads down to the ovary that holds the ovules. When pollination
happens, pollen moves from the male parts to the female parts. Pollen grains land on
the stigma. Then, a tiny tube grows from it and down the style into the ovary. The ovule
then becomes the seed and the ovary becomes the fruit.
Pollen moves from the male to female plant parts with the help of insects, the wind, and
animals. Since flowers can't move, they need to get pollinators to come to them some
other way. That is one reason why flowers are bright colors and smell good. Flowers
may be built so that wind is able to pollinate them or so that pollen can stick to the hair
of animals as they pass by the flowers. Bees, butterflies, insects, and birds like the
bright petals and sweet nectar of flowers. Some flowers open at special times for
pollinators, such as plants that open at night and are pollinated by bats.
Some plants do not have flowers. Plants such as ferns, mosses and mushrooms make
spores instead of seeds. Ferns make their spores under their leaves. They look like
brown spots on the bottom of the leaves.
There are still other ways to grow a new plant! A bulb is a tiny packaged-plant that has
everything necessary to grow a new plant. Bulbs have carbohydrates to feed the plant
and places for the roots to start growing. Everything is wrapped up very neatly in a
tunic. The tunic protects the bulb from drying out. Inside the bulb are scale leaves.
They are baby leaves that hold stored food for the bulb.
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Other ways to grow new plants are with tubers and cuttings. A tuber is a fat stem that
grows underground and is used for food storage for plants. A cutting is a piece of a
plant's stem, root, or leaf that is planted and grows roots.
Yummy Plants
People eat many different plants in our daily diet. But did you know that we eat all parts
of the plants?
Here are some biographies of your fellow agronauts:
AstroNut - Hi! I'm AstroNut, and I am a peanut. The peanut plant is unusual because it
flowers above the ground, but fruits below the ground. Peanut seeds (kernels) grow into
a green oval-leafed plant about 18 inches tall. The plant develops flowers around the
lower portion of the plant. The flowers pollinate themselves and then lose their petals as
the fertilized ovary begins to enlarge. The budding ovary or "peg" grows down away
from the plant and forms a small stem that extends to the soil. The peanut embryo is in
the tip of the peg, and it penetrates the soil. The embryo turns horizontal to the soil
surface and begins to mature taking the form of peanut. The peanut plant continues to
grow and flower, eventually producing some 40 or more mature pods. From planting to
harvesting, the growing cycle takes about four to five months, depending on the type or
variety.
Broc - What's up? I'm Broc, and you guessed it - I am a broccoli plant! The edible
portion of the broccoli plant is made up of the tender stem and the unopened flower
buds. Broccoli from fields is harvested in the early morning because it wilts very rapidly
in the sun. Field crates or baskets full or broccoli are then taken to a packing shelter
where the broccoli is bunched and iced. The broccoli head (which is what I am) should
be cut before the flower buds open. If the buds begin to open and the yellow flower
petals begin to show, then the head is over-mature and unfit for market. Broccoli heads
for market should be about 9 to 10 inches from the base of the stem to the top of the
head.
Polly - Howdy! My name is Polly, and I am a strawberry. Plants like me have white,
sometimes pink (depending on the variety) flowers that turn into luscious strawberries to
enjoy fresh, put into desserts, make jam, or freeze and use later. Strawberry plants
develop runners, or baby plants that are attached to the parent strawberry plant.
Strawberries grow 6-8 inches tall spreading about one foot across with long runners.
Strawberries like well-drained and fairly rich soil, so be sure to add compost or other
organic matter when preparing the strawberry patch. We need full sun, and frequent,
deep soakings, so also be sure to give adequate water during fruit-bearing season.
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Tate - Hello there! My name is Tate, and I am a potato. Potatoes are tubers, which
means we are a special kind of stem that grows underneath the soil. Potatoes are an
excellent choice for the home garden. We emerge quickly and grow rapidly. Potatoes
grow well under most soil and growing conditions and can be stored for long periods
without canning, drying, or freezing. Potatoes are not only delicious but also highly
nutritious. Tubers are a good source of trace minerals and several vitamins, including
vitamin C. To grow potatoes, people order seed tubers and cut them into several
pieces. The ideal seed piece is blocky in shape, has as few cut surfaces as possible,
weighs between 1 and 2 ounces (slightly larger than a golf ball), and has two or more
"eyes" or buds.
Plants and Gravity
So, do plants grow the same way in space as they do on Earth? Scientists are learning
more about how plants grow in space every day. Gravity plays an important part in plant
growth. Remember when we learned in Mission 1 about gravity, the force of attraction
that keeps our feet firmly planted on the Earth? We know which way is down because of
gravity's pull on us. Well, plants also use gravity to know which way is down. The root
tips of plants have special starch grains inside called statoliths. These grains are
heavy. They fall to the bottom of the root tip cells and act as a signal. They tell the plant
which way is down. If you tip a plant on its side, the heavy grains in the root tip would
again be pulled down by gravity, and this would tell the plant which way is down. The
root would then start growing in that direction.
In the same way that roots use gravity signals to grow downward, shoots use these
signals to grow upward. These plant movements are called gravitropism. Scientists
want to understand the signals inside a plant that help the shoots to know to grow up
and the roots to know to grow down. In spaceflight, where the plant does not have
gravity to help the roots and shoots to orient, plants usually get confused and grow in a
mixed-up way. In a microgravity environment, the starch grains should float around
randomly, just like astronauts do. Instead, scientists have found that they bunch
together. Why? It's part of the mystery. Maybe one day you will help to solve it!
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Plant Report
Look back at the information you have learned in Mission 2 and write a report on the
next page to Commander Spud Goodroot answering the following questions:
1. What are the major parts of plants and what do these parts do?
2. What are four parts of plants that you can use to grow new plants?
3. How do plants and humans depend on each other to live?
4. If you had to decide right now three plants to take with you to the Moon, which would
you take and why?
Congratulations! You have completed Mission 2!
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Plant Report
To: Commander Goodroot
From: __________________
Date: ___/____/_______
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Mission 2 – page 7
Mission 2 Glossary
air
substance needed by many living things including plants, animals,
and humans
anther
the male part of the flower that produces the pollen
bulb
a miniature packaged plant that contains everything needed to grow
a new plant, made up of special scale leaves and food for the plant
carbohydrate
an organic compound such as sugar or starch which provides
energy for living organisms
carbon dioxide
a gas from the air that is used by plants for photosynthesis, also
known as CO2
cells
the basic structural and functioning units of all living things
chlorophyll
green material in plants that is created in the presence of light and is
important for photosynthesis
waxy coating that protects the leaf
cuticle
cutting
a part of a plant's leaves, roots, or stem which is planted and grows
into a new plant
dormant
being in a resting state (not currently growing)
exhale
to breathe out
filament
fine stalk that holds up the anther
flower
reproductive part of a plant
fruit
ripe, mature ovary that contains seeds
germination
activation of a seed that causes it to start to grow
glucose
a simple sugar that plants make and use as food
gravitropism
the response of plants to gravity; roots move towards the pull of
gravity and shoots move away from the pull of gravity
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herbaceous
leaf
describes plants that have stems that are soft. These plants die
back to the ground in the winter.
green part of a plant that collects light and carbon dioxide for
photosynthesis
nutrients
sources of nourishment for living things that are important for growth
and survival
orient
to become adjusted and position oneself; to align with respect to a
point of reference
ovary
part of the female flower that contains the ovules
ovule
part of the ovary that becomes a seed
oxygen
substance released into the air by plants as a result of
photosynthesis. Plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen
while humans take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide.
petal
specialized structure that protect the parts of a flower and also
attract birds and insects to help with pollination
photosynthesis
process by which a plant produces food using water, carbon dioxide,
and sunlight
pistil
female part of the flower that includes the stigma, style, and ovary
pollen
yellow powder-like material on the anthers which is necessary for a
plant to reproduce
pollination
movement of pollen from the anther to the stigma
root
underground part of a plant that collects water and nutrients from
the soil; also anchors the plant
cells at the very tip of a plant root containing particles that respond
to gravity and help direct the root to grow down
root tips
scale leaves
the small leaves inside a bulb that hold stored food for the bulb
seed
part of a plant that will grow into a new plant if the environmental
conditions are right; formed by the maturation of the ovule after
fertilization
seed coat
protective outer covering of a seed
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sepal
shoot
green leaf-like structures that cover a bud and later open up to
reveal the petals of a flower
emerges from a seed that has germinated and becomes the part of
the plant that grows upward
spore
seed-like structure that plants like ferns, mosses, and mushrooms
use to reproduce instead of a seed
stamen
male part of the flower that includes the anther and filament
statoliths
special starch grains in the bottom of root tips which tell the plant
which way is down
stigma
sticky surface on the end of the pistil that traps and holds pollen
stem
part of the plant which holds up the leaves and flowers and serves
as a highway to move water and nutrients through the plant
stomata
pores in leaves that allow plant to bring in carbon dioxide and
release oxygen
style
part of the female flower that holds up the stigma
tuber
a fat stem that grows underground and is used for storage for plants
tunic
the outside portion of a bulb that protects it from drying out
water
substance formed of hydrogen and oxygen needed by many living
things including plants, animals and humans
woody
describes plants that have stems that are hard and stiff, such as
trees