PLANTS ON OUR PLANET Plants are living things found in just about every place on Earth Like little factories they make their own food In fact they provide most of the food animals and humans eat They also provide the oxygen we breathe Plants start life as tiny plants Then they grow into adulthood and reproduce and later they die Botanists The life cycle of a carrot plant is two years During the second year it produces flowers and seeds 4
Vocabulary To reproduce is to make more living things of the same species to continue a species scientists who study plants classify plants by how they reproduce Plants make more of their kind either by seeds or by spores Seeds and spores are small structures that develop on plants and then fall off They then may grow into new plants Seeds are larger and more complex than spores Most plants begin from seeds and have roots stems and leaves The roots grow downward spreading out into the soil to soak up water and minerals They also anchor the plant in place The stem develops and grows holding the plant upright A nut is a dry hard fruit that contains one seed Many of the foods that people think of as nuts such as peanuts and almonds are not true nuts 5
ROOTS AND SHOOTS Flower Vascular plants are one kind of plant Vascular plants mostly reproduce using seeds They have special tissues called xylem and phloem The tissues form a tubelike transport system within the plants The xylem carries nutrients and water Bud from the roots to the leaves even in the tallest redwood trees The phloem transports water and sugars from Stem the leaves to other parts of the plant Vascular plants are able to grow to be large and tall Leaf Seed Root Water travels from the roots to the other parts of a plant via the xylem and phloem tissues inside the plant
Mosses are small seedless plants that often grow in moist shady places Nonvascular plants are much smaller because they do not have true roots and stems which support vascular plants and hold them up tall Instead they spread out absorbing water and minerals directly from the air ground rocks or trees Mosses are nonvascular plants They get fed by soaking up water and minerals from the ground and air like a sponge What are some differences between vascular and nonvascular plants Compare and Contrast 7
