Biology TEKS Student
EQ: Where are the leaves on a cactus?
Plant Station Lab
Enduring Understanding
Variations within species provide a means for adaptation and survival
in a changing environment.
Broad Brush Knowledge
plant structure and function; vascular/nonvascular; adaptations to
diverse environments
Concepts Important to Know and Understand
Biodiversity in Plants
Targeted Skills
observation, analyzing, making scientific drawings, making wet
mount slides, correct microscope use
Core Objectives
16. Analyze and categorize the characteristics of plants, recognizing
their significance to living systems.
PURPOSE: To observe and learn the characteristics of plants.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Plants share many characteristics with green algae, including DNA,
which confirms that they are closely related. Fossil evidence suggests that the first true plants were
dependent on water to complete their life cycles. Over time, the demands of life on land favored plants that
were not as dependent on water. Plants had to find ways to conserve water, reproduce without water, and
obtain minerals. Botanists divide the plant kingdom into four groups based on three important features:
water-conducting tissues, seeds and flowers. These four groups are mosses, ferns, cone-bearing plants
and flowering plants.
MATERIALS: Materials will be located at each station. You will need your textbook.
PROCEDURE: Follow teacher instructions.
PLANT STATION #1
Evolutionary Advances of Plants
Algae are not plants; they are protists. Algae are mostly unicellular. Some are multicellular but remain at
the cellular level with no true tissues (although some have primitive “tissue-like” groups of highly
specialized cells). All land plants evolved from forms of the green algae, Chlorophyta. Algae have many
things in common with land plants such as cellulose cell walls and a chlorophyll-type of pigment. However,
algae are not placed in the Plant Kingdom because algae do not develop from multicellular embryos which
are protected and nourished for a time by tissues of the parental plant. Multicellularity with true tissues and
nourished embryos are an evolutionary development of the land plants, first seen in the moss.
1. What characteristics do algae and plants have in common? __________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
2. Why are algae not considered part of the Kingdom Plantae? __________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
3. As plants evolved and moved onto land, what major obstacles did they have to overcome (see
Background Information)? 1) __________________________________________________________
__2) ___________________________________, 3) _________________________________________
4. What are some possible adaptations that plants developed to overcome these obstacles (p. 502-503)?
1) _______________________________________________________________________________
__2) _______________________________________________________________________________
__3) _______________________________________________________________________________
Plant Station Lab - Student (Revised June 8, 2004)
(printed 3/21/11) p. 1
Mutualistic associations have played a key role in the initial occupation of organisms on land. Mycorrhizae
are symbiotic relationships between fungi and the roots of plants. The fungus lives within the root cells.
The plants provide the fungi with carbohydrates and other organic molecules made by photosynthesis. The
fungi absorb from the soil phosphorous and other minerals needed by plants since the first plants lacked
roots. Therefore, botanists think that these relationships may have enabled the first plants to absorb
minerals from Earth’s rock surfaces. Eighty percent of all plants form mycorrhizae.
5. _Where is the mycorrhizae located in the plant? ____________________________________________
__Why is this a mutualistic relationship? ___________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
6. _How do you think this evolutionary relationship played a key role in the initial occupation of organisms
on land? __________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
7. What are the functions of the cuticle and stomata (p. 502)? ___ Using the book, draw a stomata and
____________________________________________________ guard cells showing it open, then
closed
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
__How do these two evolutionary advances allow plants to live on
land? _____________________________________________
____________________________________________________
8. _What are the functions of xylem and phloem? (p. 507) xylem: ________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__phloem: __________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__How are xylem and phloem evolutionary advances? ________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
9. _What are the functions of roots, stems and leaves? root: ____________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__stem: ____________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__leaf: _____________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__Why would roots, stems and leaves be evolutionary advances? _______________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
PLANT STATION #2
Nonvascular Plants
1. Define nonvascular (p. 504). ___________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
2. Nonvascular plants are commonly referred to as bryophytes. Three phyla of nonvascular plants are:
1) _______________________, 2)_______________________, and 3)_______________________.
Plant Station Lab - Student (Revised June 8, 2004)
(printed 3/21/11) p. 2
3. What 3 things do bryophytes lack (p. 508)?
__a. _______________________________________________________________________________
__b. _______________________________________________________________________________
__c. _______________________________________________________________________________
4. Nonvascular plants transport materials by _________________ and ________________ (p. 508).
5. These plants need a constant supply of water. Why? _______________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
6. In what environments would you find nonvascular plants? ____________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
7. Discuss the overall size of the bryophytes. Why are they this size? ____________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
8. How do these plants reproduce? _______________________________________________________
__How does the sperm get to the egg? ____________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
9. _Examine the sample of moss under the stereoscope.
__Draw and color the moss in detail.
10. Why are these leaf-like structures not considered true leaves? (p. 509) ________________________
11. If nonvascular plants do not have roots, what do they have? (p. 508) __________________________
__What is the function of these structures? _________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
PLANT STATION #3
Vascular Plants
One of the characteristics of the vascular plants is that they all have tissues. There are three tissue
systems that make up the vascular plant body and extend throughout the entire body of the plant. The
three basic functional units, or systems, are (p 552):
1. Dermal tissue system – Covers the plant’s entire body and serves as a protective layer.
2. Ground tissue system - Contains chloroplasts, performs photosynthesis, stores water and
carbohydrates, assists in transport, and surrounds and supports the conducting tissues.
3. Vascular tissue system – Conducts water, mineral, nutrients, and carbohydrates made by
photosynthesis.
1. To what human body system would you compare the dermal tissue system? _____________________
2. What cellular organelle needed for photosynthesis is found in the ground tissue system? (p.508) _____
___________
3. Define vascular tissue (p. 422). ________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
Plant Station Lab - Student (Revised June 8, 2004)
(printed 3/21/11) p. 3
4. What three processes work together to move water up a plant (p. 560)? ________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
5. Define xylem (p. 554). What does it conduct? _____________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
6. Define phloem (p. 554). What does it conduct? ____________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
7. Why would these structures allow a plant to live away from water? _____________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
8. What is the overall size of vascular plants?(p.506-507) ______________________________________
__Why is it different from the bryophytes? __________________________________________________
9. Name three structures that vascular plants have that bryophytes lack. Remember vascular tissue
(transport tubes) means they have:
__a. true ____________________________________________________________________________
__b. true ____________________________________________________________________________
__c. true ____________________________________________________________________________
10. Look at the picture of the human circulatory system. How is it similar to the xylem and phloem? ____
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
11. Xylem provides structural support for the plant. To what human body system can this be compared?
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
12. Go to the stereoscope and look at the celery.
__Draw and color what you see.
__Label the xylem and phloem together as a vascular bundle.
PLANT STATION #4
Roots
The first structures to appear on a germinating seed are the roots. The initial root to grow from a seed is
the primary root, which is then followed by secondary roots that branch out from the primary root. In a
taproot system, the primary root grows longer and thicker than the secondary roots. In a fibrous root
system, the secondary roots continue to grow, and eventually all the roots are of equal or nearly equal size.
Roots anchor the plant in place, absorb water containing dissolved minerals from the environment, and act
as storage areas for excess food. Adventitious roots grow from parts of the plant other than the roots.
There are two types of adventitious roots. Aerial roots are roots that are suspended in the air. Prop roots
grow above the ground and anchor the plant in place (p. 555).
Look at the pictures of the 4 types of roots below. Label each root by its type:
Plant Station Lab - Student (Revised June 8, 2004)
(printed 3/21/11) p. 4
___________
___________
___________
___________
1. What are three functions of roots?
__a. _______________________________________________________________________________
__b. _______________________________________________________________________________
__c. _______________________________________________________________________________
2. What is the difference between a fibrous and a taproot? _____________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
3. Do root hairs appear to significantly increase the volume or the surface area of a root? _____________
__What benefit does this increase provide for the plant? ______________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
4. Which root is more likely to be a food source – a fibrous root or a tap root (p. 555)? _______________
__Explain. __________________________________________________________________________
__Give an example of a taproot you eat. ___________________________________________________
PLANT STATION #5
Leaves
Leaves are the main organs of photosynthesis in a plant. In order to produce sugars, leaves must have a
way of obtaining the materials needed for photosynthesis as well as distributing its end products.
In order to collect sunlight, most leaves have thin, flattened sections called blades. Leaves have an outer
covering of dermal tissue and inner regions of ground and vascular tissues. The top and bottom are
covered by epidermal cells. The epidermal cells are covered by a waxy cuticle on many leaves. This
forms a waterproof barrier that limits the loss of water through evaporation.
The vascular tissue in the leaf contains bundles called xylem and phloem. The bulk of the leaf is made of
ground tissue called mesophyll. Photosynthesis takes place in the mesophyll of most plants. Air spaces
called stomata (stoma is singular) are tiny openings on the underside of leaves. These allow carbon
dioxide, oxygen, and water vapor to diffuse into or out of the leaf. Two guard cells expand or contract to
control whether the stomata is open or closed. When water enters the guard cells, they swell and bulge so
that there is an opening (stomata). When water leaves the guard cells, they shrink and relax the opening.
Generally, the stomata are open during the day and closed at night (p 558-559).
Plant Station Lab - Student (Revised June 8, 2004)
(printed 3/21/11) p. 5
Stomata may also be closed when the weather conditions are hot and dry and water conservation is
needed.
1. _Use clear nail polish to paint a small section of the underside of a leaf. Allow the nail polish to dry for
10 minutes. Set aside and work on #s 2-4.
2. _What is the main function of a leaf? _____________________________________________________
__Why do they need to do this function? ___________________________________________________
3. _How are leaves protected from the excessive loss of water? _________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
4. What would happen to a plant if its stomata stayed open all the time? __________________________
5. Now look at the leaf with the nail polish. If the
polish is completely dry, press clear tape over it.
Carefully peel the polish from the leaf by pulling
gently on the tape. The polish should remain in
one piece on the tape. Turn the tape so the sticky
side is down and place it on a slide. Place the
slide on the microscope stage. Locate the
stomata on low power. Turn to high power. Draw
the outline of a leaf. Draw stomata on the leaf.
Count the number of stomata.
_____# of stomata
_____ X
6. Describe an environment where the leaves would have stomata that are closed most of the time. (think!)
_________________________________________________________________________________
7. In what part of the leaf does photosynthesis usually occur? (p. 559) ____________________________
8. How does the leaf get water for photosynthesis? (think! or p. 560) _____________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
9. How does the leaf get carbon dioxide for photosynthesis? (p. 559 Last paragraph) ________________
10. What happens to the sugars after they are produced? (p. 97) ________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
11. What happens to the oxygen made during photosynthesis? (Think! What do humans get from plants?)
_________________________________________________________________________________
12. Look at the cross section of the leaf. Label the epidermis, cuticle, vascular bundles, mesophyll,
stomata and guard cells. (p. 559)
13. Look at the pictures of different kinds of leaves at the lab station. What are some possible adaptations
for the different shapes and sizes of these leaves? (p. 558-559)
TYPE OF LEAF
Plant Station Lab - Student (Revised June 8, 2004)
ADAPTATION
(printed 3/21/11) p. 6
PLANT STATION #6
Primitive Vascular Plants
Fern plants are considered primitive vascular plants. They have developed many adaptations that allow
them to live on land. (p. 423 and 511)
1. Name 3 adaptations that these plants have developed. (hint: Don’t write roots, stems, and leaves p.510)
__a. _______________________________________________________________________________
__b. _______________________________________________________________________________
__c. _______________________________________________________________________________
3. _Jim Martin, the manager at Calloway’s plant nursery in Plano says that many people return ferns and
ask for a refund. His customers lug their fern back to the store and exclaim, “This fern is sick! Look at
all of these big brown spots on the back of the leaves!” Jim rarely has to provide a refund. Use Figure
3 on p. 532 to explain why he rarely has to give a refund.
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
4. Look at your fern. What are the rounded brown spots on fern called? __________________________
5. What is the purpose of the rounded brown spots on the fern leaf? _____________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
6. Draw, color and label the back of a fern leaf.
Label the sporangia.
7. Put a drop of water on a slide. Take a scalpel and
gently scrape the spores from the leaf onto a slide.
Put a cover slip over the spores. Look at these
spores under the microscope. Draw what you see.
PLANT STATION #7
Gymnosperm
2. The word “gymnosperm” means what (p. 512)? ____________________________________________
3. What advancements allow gymnosperms to live on land (p. 512)? _____________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
4. Conifers are an example of gymnosperms. How do conifers conserve water (p. 513)? _____________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
5. Why are conifers not tied to water for reproduction (p.513-Figure 15) ___________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
Plant Station Lab - Student (Revised June 8, 2004)
(printed 3/21/11) p. 7
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
6. Conifers pollinate using what type of pollination? ___________________________________________
__Explain this type of reproduction (p. 536). ________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
7. Conifers produce two different types of cones. Describe the two types, seed cones and pollen cones (p.
536-537). Draw each in the spaces below:
Describe a seed cone. Drawing
Describe a pollen cone. Drawing
8. _Look at the printed pollen grain microscope slide.
Draw it in the space to the right.
__ ______________________________________
__ ______________________________________
PLANT STATION #8
Angiosperms
1. Angiosperms are seed plants that have _____________________ (p. 514).
2. In contrast to gymnosperms, angiosperms produce seeds that are enclosed in ___________________
(p. 514).
3. The great evolutionary advancement of angiosperms is the flower. It promotes ___________________
(p. 514).
5. Why are they not tied to water for reproduction? ___________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
You may not realize it, but you were forced to drink liquefied plant ovaries as a child! Many unsuspecting
parents also feed their children squished plant ovaries. Restaurants serve pizza covered with squished
plant ovaries.
6. What do plant ovaries become? ________________________________________________________
7. Name one beverage that is actually liquefied plant ovaries? __________________________________
8. What type of squished plant ovaries are found in pizza recipes? _______________________________
PLANT STATION #9
Angiosperm specimens
What is the difference between a vegetable and a fruit? When you eat broccoli, are you eating a
vegetable or a fruit? What about corn?
Go to your computer and look up the following website: http://vric.ucdavis.edu/faq.htm
1. Read section 1 and define the terms fruit and vegetable.
Plant Station Lab - Student (Revised June 8, 2004)
(printed 3/21/11) p. 8
__fruit: _____________________________________________________________________________
__vegetable: ________________________________________________________________________
2. Look up the following website and read sections 1 and 2: “To Be or Not to Be a Vegetable” and
“Supermarket Botany: Vegetable Anatomy”: http://waynesword.palomar.edu/plsept96.htm
3. Add to your definition of vegetables based on this information. Identify all the different parts of a plant
that are vegetables. _________________________________________________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
4. Give an example of:
__fruit: _____________________________________________________________________________
__root: _____________________________________________________________________________
__leaf: _____________________________________________________________________________
__flower cluster: ______________________________________________________________________
__sunflower head: ____________________________________________________________________
__stem: ____________________________________________________________________________
__tuber: ____________________________________________________________________________
__bulb: _____________________________________________________________________________
5. Everything at this station is a fruit or a vegetable. Make a list of the fruits and vegetables. Identify them
as a fruit or a vegetable. If you identify something as a vegetable, further identify what part of the plant
it is from.
NAME
FRUIT OR VEGETABLE
PART OF PLANT
PLANT STATION #10
Parts of a Flower
Flowers are important in making seeds. The basic parts of a flower are the male and female parts.
Flowers can have all male parts, all female parts, or a combination. Flowers with all male or all female parts
are called imperfect (cucumbers, pumpkin and melons). Flowers that have both male and female parts are
called perfect (roses, lilies, dandelion).
1. In the space provide below, sketch and label the parts of the flower as we learn them. Use correct
labeling techniques.
2. Fill in the functions of each structure in the chart at the end of station 10.
Plant Station Lab - Student (Revised June 8, 2004)
(printed 3/21/11) p. 9
3. Some parts of the flower that are important are the petals and sepals. Petals attract pollinators and are
usually the reason why we buy and enjoy flowers. The sepals are the green petal-like parts at the base
of the flower. Sepals help protect the developing bud. A receptacle holds and positions the flower. Draw
petals, sepals and a receptacle on the drawing in the space above.
4. The male part of the flower, the stamen, has two parts: anthers and filaments. The anthers carry the
pollen. These are generally yellow in color. Anthers are held up by a thread-like part called a filament.
Draw 4 anthers and filaments on the drawing in the space above. Label the anthers, filaments and
stamen.
5. The female part of the flower, the pistil , has three parts: stigma, style, and ovary. The stigma is the
sticky surface at the top of the pistil; it traps and holds the pollen. The style is the tube-like structure that
holds up the stigma. The style leads down to the ovary that contains the ovules. The ovules are the
eggs. Draw the stigma, style, ovary and ovule above.
7. Fill in the chart below.
PARTS OF A FLOWER
FUNCTION
Petals
Sepals
Receptacle
Stamen
Anther
Filament
Pistil (carpel)
Stigma
Style
Ovary
Ovule containing ovum
Plant Station Lab - Student (Revised June 8, 2004)
(printed 3/21/11) p. 10
PLANT STATION #11
Two Types of Angiosperm
Flowering plants are divided into two basic groups, monocotyledons and dicotyledons. The seeds of these
groups are different, as is the development of the embryonic plant.
1. Complete the chart of characteristics of monocots and dicots. Make sketches of each characteristic
(See sheet at lab station).
MONOCOTS
DICOTS
Embryos- (Cotyledons)
Embryos- (Cotyledons)
Vein arrangement in Leaf-
Vein arrangement in Leaf-
Flower- petal and anther number
Flower- petal and anther number
Vascular Bundles-roots, stems and leavesVascular Bundles-roots, stems
and leaves
Roots
Roots
2. After you have completed the chart of the characteristics of monocots and dicots you are ready to
identify specimens. Observe the specimens in your tray. Identify them as a monocot or a dicot. Then
identify the characteristic that makes the specimen a monocot or dicot.
Specimen
Monocot or Dicot
Characteristic
#1
#2
Plant Station Lab - Student (Revised June 8, 2004)
(printed 3/21/11) p. 11
#3
#4
#5
#6
PLANT STATION #12
Cross Sections of Roots, Leaves and Stems
At this station you will be looking at the cross sections of monocot and dicot roots, stems and leaves. Use
the lowest power on the microscope for this section. (Page 552 and the few that follow might help with
labeling)
1. Obtain the slide of monocot and dicot roots.
Monocot
Both are on the same slide. The dicot root has a
cross shaped pattern at the center of the root. The
xylem is the cross itself. The phloem are the
smaller cells between the arms of the cross. The
monocot root has vascular bundles that are in a
circular pattern within the central area of the root.
In the spaces to the right draw and color the cross
sections. Label: Vascular bundles
Dicot
2. Obtain the slide of monocot and dicot leaves. Both are Monocot
on the same slide. The dicot cross section has a thick
“midrib”. Because the veins in a dicot leaf are not
parallel, the vascular bundles do not have a uniform
appearance. The monocot cross section does not have
a thick “midrib”. Because the veins are parallel, the
vascular bundles appear highly organized and uniform.
In the spaces to the right, draw and color the cross
sections.
Label: Vascular bundles, Mesophyll, Stomata
Dicot
3. Obtain the slide of the buttercup stem (dicot) and the Monocot
slide of the corn stem (monocot). The dicot vascular
bundles are arranged in a single ring around the outer
edge of the stem. The monocot vascular bundles are
scattered around the outer edge in a ring then scattered
throughout the stem cross section. In the spaces to the
right draw and color the cross section.
Label: Vascular bundles
Dicot
PLANT STATION #13
Seed dispersal
Seed development was a major factor in the success of angiosperms and gymnosperms. Seeds offer
protection and nutrition of the embryo. Angiosperm seeds have an advantage over gymnosperm seeds by
having a fruit surrounding the seed. This fruit is instrumental in the dispersal of the seed.
1. There are four types of seed dispersal: explosive, wind, animal and water. Go to the following web site
on the computer and fill in the chart. When you get to the web site, click on each type of dispersal to
discover how it works. http://www.offwell.free-online.co.uk/seed_dispersl/
Plant Station Lab - Student (Revised June 8, 2004)
(printed 3/21/11) p. 12
Seed Type
Explanation
Advantage
Example
Sketch
Explosive
Wind
Animal
Water
2. Look at the specimens on your lab tray and try to decide what type of seed dispersal would be involved.
Specimen
Type of Seed Dispersal
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
Plant Station Lab - Student (Revised June 8, 2004)
(printed 3/21/11) p. 13
PLANT STATION #14
Evolutionary Advancements
An evolutionary advancement is a characteristic or adaptation that enables the organism to better survive
in its environment. There may be several correct answers, choose the best answer. (p. 509-516).
1. Name an evolutionary advancement of moss. _____________________________________________
2. Name an evolutionary advancement of seedless vascular plants. ______________________________
3. Name an evolutionary advancement of Gymnosperms. ______________________________________
4. Name an evolutionary advancement of seeds (p 564 and 565). _______________________________
__ _________________________________________________________________________________
5. Name an evolutionary advancement of flowers. ____________________________________________
6. Name an evolutionary advancement of fruits. _____________________________________________
Plant Station Lab - Student (Revised June 8, 2004)
(printed 3/21/11) p. 14