The Plant Kingdom
All plants are photosynthetic, but there are a wide variety of forms, from
simple mosses to ferns and large rainforest trees. This will give you a brief
introduction to just a few of the diverse species in this kingdom.
A)
Web site name: Kimball’s Biology pages
Web site address: http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/M/Mosses.html
Read “Mosses and liverworts (Bryophyta)”
1)
What are three characteristics of bryophytes? ________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
2)
Where do liverworts grow? ______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
3)
Why do mosses and liverworts never grow large?
_____________________________________________________________
Look at the diagram on the right of the screen
4)
What are produced by the sporangium, and grow into a protonema?
_____________________________________________________________
5)
What are produced by the antheridia? ___________________________
6) How do sperm travel from male to female plants? ____________________
____________________________________________________________
7)
What is the function of the foot of the sporophyte generation?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
8)
How are the spores dispersed? ___________________________________
9)
What does the evidence from the chloroplast genome suggest about the
relationship between mosses and liverworts?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
B)
Web site name: University of California, Berkeley.
Web URL: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/plants/pterophyta/psilotales.html
Read “Introduction to the Psilotales”
10)
Why were the Psilotales believed to be remnants of an extinct group of
plants? ______________________________________________________
11)
Why are they now sometimes classified with ferns? ___________________
_____________________________________________________________
12)
Why are the enations on the stem not called leaves? __________________
_____________________________________________________________
13)
How do the gametophyte plants get their nutrition? ___________________
_____________________________________________________________
14)
What is the function of the endodermis? ____________________________
_____________________________________________________________
C)
Web site name: Palomar College; Wayne’s World (Ferns)
Web URL: http://waynesword.palomar.edu/lmexer8.htm#fern
Look at the “Fern Life Cycle” and read the information underneath the diagram.
15)
Which stage ( sporophyte or gametophyte ) is larger in ferns? ___________
16)
Which stage ( sporophyte or gametophyte ) is larger in Bryophyta ( mosses)?
_________________________ ( If you can’t remember, look back at the
first website Mosses)
17)
Draw a simple diagram of the life cycle of a fern :
D)
Web site name: Genome News Network
Web URL: http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/2004/08/06/fern.php
Read “Ferns remove Arsenic from soil and water”
18)
List four uses of arsenic:
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
19)
What is the scientific name of brake fern? ___________________________
20)
Why do residents of Spring Valley not want contaminated soil dug up?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
21)
Which household plants are toxic to pets and people ?
_____________________________________________________________
22)
Why is arsenic high in drinking water in some western states?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
23)
What advantages can you see in using ferns to remove arsenic from drinking
water?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
E)
Web site name: Estrella Mountain Community College
Web URL: http://www2.estrellamountain.edu/faculty/farabee/Biobk/BioBookDiversity_6.html
Read “Gymnosperms are Seed plants”
24)
What does “Gymnosperm” mean? _________________________________
25)
What distinguishes cycads from seedless vascular plants ( such as ferns)?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
26)
Which cycad is the only one native to the continental United States?
______________ ___________________
27)
Where do Ginkgo trees grow wild? _____________________________
28)
Why are female Ginkgo trees not commonly planted? _________________
_____________________________________________________________
29)
What are three characteristics of the “needles” (leaves) of conifers?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
F)
Web site name: Kimball’s Biology Text
Web URL: http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/A/Angiosperm.html
Read “Sexual Reproduction in Angiosperms”
30) Why must offspring be dispersed away from the parent?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
31) What is meant by “dioecious” plants?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
32)
What is the function of the synergid cells?
_____________________________________________________________
32) Explain “double fertilization”: ___________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
G)
Web site name: Missouri Botanical Garden
Web site address: http://www.mbgnet.net/
Click on “Rainforest”, then “Plants” and read “Plant Adaptations”
34)
Why do tropical plants not need a thick bark? ______________________
35)
Why do plant leaves need to shed water?
___________________________________________________________
36)
What animals live inside the tanks of bromeliads? ___________________
___________________________________________________________
37)
How do Nepenthes plants get extra nutrients?
_____________________________________________________________
Click on “Economic Plants” on the left of the screen.
38)
In which parts of the world are the following plants native?
a) rubber: ________________________
b) cola: ________________________
c) sugar cane: _____________________
Click on “Interesting Plants 1” on the left of the screen:
39)
Why is the “Double Coconut” rarely planted? ________________________
40)
Which plant has the largest flower clusters? __________________________
41)
Give some information about one plant that is listed under “Interesting
Plants 2” or “Interesting Plants 3”:
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
H)
Web site name : BBC News
Web site address: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3465695.stm
Read “Earth’s cloud forests threatened”
42) What is the “typical” altitude of cloud forests? _______________________
43) What percentage of the earth’s tropical rainforests are cloud forests? ____%
44) Which part of the world has the most cloud forest? ____________________
45)
Why are cloud forests useful to humans? ____________________________
_____________________________________________________________
46) What is probably the greatest threat to cloud forests?
_____________________________________________________________
I)
Web site name: WWF Forest Conservation
URL: http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/about_forests/forest_conservation/
Click on one of the articles (under “Forests for life” on the left) that interests you.
47) What is the title of the article? ____________________________________
48) Briefly describe what the article says:
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________