How Plants Communicate

How Plants Communicate — page 1 — A PLANET FULL OF PLANTS Plants are some of the planet’s most amazing living things They turn sunlight into food They put oxygen into our air which we need to breathe Plants provide people with food clothing medicine building materials and much more Big small bright or dull plants can do it all Did you know they can communicate too They may look quiet and still but the plants in this picture are hard at work They get all their power from the sun 4

How Plants Communicate — page 2 — Think About It Plants can communicate even though they can’t speak How do people communicate without speaking Plants can’t talk or move around but they have other incredible ways of showing their needs Plant communications take place inside the plant as well as outside Plants send messages from one part of the plant to another It’s just like how the human brain sends messages to other parts of the body Some parts of a plant can only be seen using a microscope Communication sometimes happens at this level 5

How Plants Communicate — page 3 — Plants also communicate with other living things by sending messages to other plants animals and people Some of the forms of communication we can see and some we can’t But how do they communicate What makes a plant a plant Most plants have several things in common They need sunshine water and air to grow They are not able to move around Their cells have stiff walls made of a tough material called cellulose All green plants use the sun’s energy water and a gas called carbon dioxide to make their own food Cellulose keeps plants firm and strong Zinnias are sturdy plants with stiff hairy stems and oval-shaped leaves 6

How Plants Communicate — page 4 — seeds seeds orange fleshy fruit pea dry fruit Fruits are more than tasty snacks for people They contain a plant's seeds which grow into new plants 2013 Encyclopaedia Britannica Ine VOCABULARY This process is called photosynthesis Most plants share the same basic parts which are seeds roots stems leaves flowers and fruit These parts are connected and each part has an important job to do Some of these parts play a role in how plants communicate For example the pitcher plant has a curved shape that allows bats to find it using echolocation This helps the plants because the bats leave droppings that help the plants grow Echolocation is a way for some animals to locate objects using sound waves The animals send out sound waves and the waves bounce off the object and back to the animal

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