Rourke’s World of Science Volume 3 PLANT FUNGI LIFE By Thomas F Sheehan Editorial Consultant Debbie Ankiel www rourkeeducationalcom
TABLE OF CONTENT S What is a Plant 4 The Size of Plants 5 How Plants Live 5 Classifying the Plant World 7 The Parts of Plants 9 Plant Cells 9 Vegetative Parts 11 Reproductive Parts 16 How Plants Grow 21 The Life Cycle of Plants 21 Plant Reproduction 22 Photosynthesis 24 Types of Plants 27 Algae 28 Fungi 30 Mosses and Liverworts 33 Ferns 35 Flowering Plants 36 Shrubs 38 Vines 39 Trees 41 Herbs 45 Grasses 47 Plant Movements and Adaptations 49 Plant Movements 49 Plant Adaptations 50 How We Use Plants 53 Shelter and Decoration 53 Scientific Exploration With Plants 54 Plants as Food 56 Other Plant Products 58 People Learn From Plants 59 Why Study Plants 59
PLANT LIFE Plants also need water to carry out photosynthesis Plant cells are more angular in shape than animal cells What Is a Plant T N A L P A S I T A H W Plants and animals are living things or organisms Plants make it possible for all the other living things to exist on planet Earth While plants are similar to animals in some ways they are unlike animals in many more ways Plants like animals are made up of cells Most plant cells contain a green pigment called chlorophyll Animal cells do not Chlorophyll makes it possible for most plants to absorb energy from sunlight Using a cell process called photosynthesis plants use that energy along with water and carbon dioxide molecules to make food substances and release oxygen Plants provide all the food and oxygen that animals including people depend on Fungi are not considered to be plants They have no chlorophyll They digest dead things and absorb nutrients from them These saprotrophs are nature’s recyclers While mushrooms resemble plants they are actually in the fungi kingdom 4
