Plant Structures and
Processes
By MR. E
5th grade Science
THE
BIG IDEA
Plants have structures to take in water
and make their own food, and they
have several different ways to
reproduce.
5th grade Science
What do you already know?

Did you know that there are more than
300,000 species of plants?
What we are going to learn.
Structure: nonvascular and vascular
Nonvascular plants (example, algae)
Vascular plants have tube like structures that
allow water and dissolve nutrients to move
through the plant
Part and functions of vascular plants: roots,
stems and buds, leaves
What we are going to learn.
Photosynthesis
Is an important life process that occurs in plant
cells but not animals cells (photo = light;
synthesis = putting together).
Unlike animals, plants make their own food
through the process of photosynthesis.
Role in photosynthesis of energy from sunlight,
chlorophyll, carbon dioxide and water, xylem
and phloem, stomata, oxygen, sugar (glucose)
What we are going to learn.
Reproduction
Asexual reproduction
• Example of algae
• Vegetative reproduction: runners (example,
strawberries) and bulbs (example, onions);
growing plants from eyes, buds, leaves, roots,
and stems
What we are going to learn.
Reproduction
Sexual reproduction by spore-bearing plants
(example, mosses and ferns)
Sexual reproduction of non-flowering seed
plants: conifers (example, pines), male and
female cones, wind pollination
What we are going to learn.
Reproduction
Sexual reproduction of flowering plants: (example, peas).
• Functions of sepals and petals, stamen (male), anther,
pistil (female) ovary (or ovule)
• Process of seed and fruit production: pollen, wind, insect
and bird pollination, fertilization, growth of ovary, mature
fruit
• Seed germination and plant growth: seed coat, embryo
and endosperm, germination (sprouting of new plant),
monocots (example, corn) and dicots ( example, beans)
Part 1: Structure: nonvascular and
vascular
Many scientists
believe that all
plants derived
from a common
ancestor, which is
thought to be
originally a group
of green algae.
Green Algae in a pond
Nonvascular Plants
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A plant that is relatively simple in form and
lacks specialized tissues for support and fluid
transport.
Examples: Mosses, liverworts, and hornworts
Most species of nonvascular plants have
structures called rhizoids, which are elongated
cells that attach to the soil and absorb water
and nutrients.
Moss
Liverworts
Hornwort
The importance of nonvascular
plants
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They are usually the first plants to live in a
new environment, such as newly exposed rock.
When these plants die, they form a thin layer
of soil. New plants can then grow in this soil.
Example: Peat moss
Peat moss is used in potting soil
Vascular Plants
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A plant that has specialized tissues to carry
water and nutrients to all parts of the plant.
Typically larger than nonvascular plants
Examples: Trees, flowers, grass
Trees
Flowers
Grass?????
Another Grass and Trees
Vascular Plants
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Specialized structure includes;
Roots (which absorbs water and nutrients and
anchor the plant in the surrounding soil.
Stems (which transport water and sugar to the
other plant parts and support the plant.
Leaves (where photosynthesis occurs
Vascular Plants
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Vascular tissues are groups of cells working
together as a system.
They conduct and distribute water and
nutrients to all parts of the plant.
Two examples are Xylem and Phloem
Xylem
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Xylem- transports water
and nutrients from roots
to the leaves. Xylem is
narrow cells that are
open at each end and
connect to each other
like tube-like structures.
Transports the water
Example: straws or
rings.
Phloem

Phloem-a set of tubelike structures that
transport sugars, which
are made primarily in
the leaves, to other parts
of the plant or store it
for later use.
Transports the food
Experiment #1
Quick Review - Seedless
Vascular Plants

have vascular tissues
– xylem
 for water and minerals
 flow is from roots to the rest of the plant (“up only”)
– phloem
 for carbohydrates and other nutrients
 flow is in whatever direction is needed (“up or down”)
Part 2: Photosynthesis
A plant life process
that traps sunlight
and uses carbon
dioxide and water to
form carbohydrates.
Photosynthesis
All living cells are capable of taking energy
from their surroundings and using this
energy to sustain themselves and to
reproduce.
The cells of green plants use the energy of
the sun’s light to synthesize, or
manufacture, their own food.
Photosynthesis
Photosynthetic cells
contain the green
pigment chlorophyll.
Chlorophyll is found
within the
chloroplasts of a
plant cell.
Photosynthesis
Plants use photosynthesis to make food
products such as sugars, starches, and
other carbohydrates.
Through the process of photosynthesis,
plants also produce and give off oxygen.
Steps to photosynthesis
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Step 1- plants trap the
sun’s light energy and
use that energy to break
down water (H2O) into
its components –
hydrogen and oxygen.
While the plants use
some of the oxygen,
much of it is released
into the environment.
Steps to photosynthesis

Step 2- the carbon
dioxide taken in by the
plants, through the
stomata in the leaves, is
recombined with the
remaining oxygen and
the hydrogen to form
glucose, a simple sugar.
Lets review
How Are Plants and Animals
Different?
• Plants can make their
own food.

Animals cannot make
their own food.
It’s question time!
What is the process by which plants make food?
* Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is the process by which plants make food. A green plant makes food
using light energy. Green plants get light energy from the sun.
What part of the plant produces food?
Here comes a hint!
In most plants the leaves are the special
parts where the most food is made.
Leaves contain a chemical called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the green
matter in plants that traps light energy to produce food.
Plants use water and carbon dioxide to make food.
Water is taken from the soil by the roots and travels up the stems to the
leaves. Carbon dioxide is taken from the air. Air enters the plant through
small openings (stomata) in leaves.
STOMATA
Tiny openings on the underside of the leaf. Stomata is similar to a human nose.
Stomata breathes in carbon dioxide and breathes out oxygen. The human nose
breathes in oxygen and breathes out carbon dioxide.
Plants store extra food in the forms of
sugar and starch.
Sugar – sweet
grapes
Starch – corn
Pop quiz!
Why is energy needed by plants and animals?
Energy is needed for growth, repair of tissues, movement, warmth, and
all other body functions.
ALL LIVING THINGS NEED
ENERGY!
All living things need energy. Energy comes
from food made by plants. Oxygen combines
with food and energy is released.
Once again……………
PHOTOSYNTHESIS is the process by which green plants get light energy
from the sun. This energy is collected in the plant leaves as chlorophyll.
Chlorophyll helps the plant produce food along with water and carbon
dioxide.
1 more time on How
plants make their own
food ?
Making food
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Green plants are the
only living things
which can make their
own food.
This process is
called
photosynthesis.
Making food
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Leaves are green in
colour because they
contain chlorophyll.
Chlorophyll is
needed in
photosynthesis.
What does the plant need ?
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For photosynthesis
to take place a plant
needs :
Carbon dioxide from
the air
Light from the sun
Water from the rain
Chlorophyll from the
leaves
What then … ?

When the plant has
all of these things …
… photosynthesis can
take place.

The plant produces
sugar and oxygen.
A closer look at photosynthesis
Food out
Oxygen out
1. Carbon dioxide in
2. Light in
3. Water in
4. Chlorophyll is already in green leaves
How other cells get their food

Humans get energy from food in the form of
carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. They do this
by eating parts of plants or by eating the meat
of animals that ate plants.
Experiment #2
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See oxygen
Where’s the green
Part 3: Reproduction
Plants have many different methods of reproduction, both
asexual and sexual.
Sexual Reproduction
There is only one method
of sexual reproduction.
Through sexual
reproduction, gametes
(the plant’s sex cells)
join and reproduction
occurs.

Asexual Reproduction
Asexual reproduction is
any means of
reproducing without the
joining of male and
female gametes.
Asexual Reproduction

In each asexual method, the new plant
offspring is almost always a clone of the parent
plant. That is, the new plant is genetically
identical to the old plant. Occasionally, there
will be slight variations or mutations, and these
can lead to distinct species of plants. There are
three structures plants use to reproduce
asexually. They are Plantlets, Tubers, Runners
Plantlets
Tiny plants grow along the
edges of a plant’s leaves.
These plantlets fall off and
grow on their own.
Kalanchoe plants produce
plantlets along the edges
of their leaves. The
plantlets eventually fall
off and root in the soil to
grow on their own.
Tubers
Underground stems, or
tubers, can produce new
plants after a dormant
season.
A potato is a tuber, or
underground stem. The
“eyes” of potatoes are
buds that can grow into
new plants.
OOPS! NOT THAT KIND OF EYE
Runners
Go! GO! GO!
Above-ground stem from
which new plants can
grow are called runners.
The strawberry plant
produces runners, or stems
that grow horizontally
along the ground. Buds
along the runners take root
and grow into new plants.
I WIN!!!!!
Sexual Reproduction-Spore
Bearing Plants
Mosses
Ferns
Moss life cycle
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When the moss plants are showered with drops of
water from a rain storm or from a waterfall, the
sperms swim through the water to the stems which
support the eggs.
After the sperm has fertilized an egg a spore case
grows out of the moss on a stem. The spore case is
often protected by a cap which blows off when the
case ripens and dries out. The spores are
microscopic and are carried away on the wind. If
they land in a suitable habitat they will eventually
germinate and grow into new moss plants.
Fern life cycle
Sexual ReproductionNon-Flowering seed plants
Pines
Sexual ReproductionNon-Flowering seed plants
Sexual ReproductionFlowering plants
Peas
Monocots and Dicots
Monocots
Dicots
The Parts of a Flower
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Most flowers have
four parts:
sepals,
petals,
stamens,
carpels.
The parts of a flower
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Sepals protect the
bud until it opens.
Petals attract
insects.
Stamens make
pollen.
Carpels grow into
fruits which contain
the seeds.
Stamen (male)
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Anther: pollen grains
grow in the anther.
When the grains are
fully grown, the
anther splits open.
Pistil (female)
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Stigma
Style
Carpel (ovary)
Ovules (eggs)
Pollination

Flowering plants use
the wind, insects,
bats, birds and
mammals to transfer
pollen from the male
(stamen) part of the
flower to the female
(stigma) part of the
flower.
Pollination
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A flower is
pollinated when a
pollen grain lands on
its stigma.
Each carpel grows
into a fruit which
contains the seeds.
Fertilization
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Pollen grains germinate
on the stigma, growing
down the style to reach
an ovule.
Fertilized ovules
develop into seeds.
The carpel enlarges to
form the flesh of the
fruit and to protect the
ovary.
Wind pollination
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Some flowers, such as
grasses, do not have
brightly coloured petals
and nectar to attract
insects.
They do have stamens
and carpels.
These flowers are
pollinated by the wind.
Seed dispersal
Seeds are dispersed in
many different
ways:
 Wind
 Explosion
 Water
 Animals
 Birds
 Scatter
How birds and animals help
seed dispersal
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Some seeds are
hidden in the ground
as a winter store.
Some fruits have
hooks on them and
cling to fur or
clothes.
How birds and animals help
seed dispersal

Birds and animals
eat the fruits and
excrete the seeds
away from the
parent plant.
water
soil
Plants need roots to get …………………… from the ………………….. .
Roots need to be spread out to get as much water as possible. They also help to
hold
………………….. Plants in the ground. Water gets to the other parts of the plant
stem
through the …………………. If it is damaged then the plant won’t get enough
water
………………….
leaves
Plants also need lots of ……………………………. To grow
and to be healthy.
water
hold
leaves
soil
stem
water
Microsoft Clip Art
Online Microsoft Clip Art
The Life Cycle
of a Bean
Plant

Some plants
do not have
fruit that the
seed grows in,
but have a pod
called a bean.
A bean is the part
of the plant that
holds the seeds.
There are many
different kinds of
bean plants but
they all grow in a
similar way.
Stage One

The bean seed
is covered in a
hard outer
shell. When
water is
added to the
seed,
Stage Two

it swells and
the seed
bursts open.
Stage
Three

As the roots
grow, a stem
will also
appear. The
bean uses the
food in the
seed to grow.
Stage Four

Leaves will
grow on the
stem and
stretch
towards the
light.

The bean seed
is the part of
the plant that
is eaten. Peas
and lima
beans are
bean seeds.
And now you know
the Life Cycle of a
Bean Plant
How a Flower is
Pollinated
The purpose of all flowers is to
be pollinated and produce seeds
What do petals do?
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Partly used to protect
the male and female
parts of the plant
Some plants use wind
to blow the pollen and
they have small leaves
Plants which use
insects to transfer
the pollen usually have
large petals which
smell and are brightly
coloured
What is the male part?
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The male part of
the flower is called
the stamen
It has a long stalk
called the filament
At the top of the
filament is the
anther
What is the anther?

The anther
produces pollen
What is the female part?

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Carpels are the
female parts
They are made up
of a stigma, style
and ovary
What is the stigma?

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It is at the top of
the carpel
It is sticky which
helps catch pollen
grains
What are the ovaries?

The ovaries are where
the eggs are made
How does pollination take
place?
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Pollen grains brush against the insect, it flies
to another plant, the grains rub on the stigma
The grain of pollen grows a tube, which goes
down the style until it reaches the ovary
The male part joins with the female part to
form a seed. This is called fertilisation.
After fertilisation the petal drop off because
they are no longer needed