Section 6 - Plant Structures And Their Functions Flashcards
What is energy that is transferred by light from the sun transferred to? And how?
Glucose by photosynthesis
What is glucose and substances made from glucose?
Stores of energy
When an animal eats a plant what does it get?
Energy from the plants energy stores, made from glucose
What is a biomass?
Total mass in living organisms
How do plants and algae produce biomass?
They produce their own biomass
Because plants and algae produce their own biomass, what do they then do for the earth?
Produce the food for all other life on earth
What are plants and algae in the food chain?
Producers
What is the equation for photosynthesis?
Carbon dioxide + water = glucose + oxygen
Where does photosynthesis occur?
In chloroplasts, which contain a green substance called chlorophyll that traps energy transferred by light
How does energy enter?
From the surroundings
Since energy enters from the surrounds, what do the products of photosynthesis have?
More energy than the reactants = ENDOTHERMIC
Who is starch made?
Glucose molecules form a polymer which forms starch
Where does starch stay?
In chloroplasts until photosynthesis stops
When photosynthesis stops, what happens to the starch?
It’s broken down into simpler substances, moved into cytoplasm, used to make sucros
Sucrose is transported around the plant and may be used to make what…?
Starch (in storage organ)
Other molecules for the plant (cellulose, lipids or proteins)
Glucose for respiration (to release energy)
Why do leaves have a large surface area?
Because they’re large and broad which allows them to spread out and absorb more sunlight
Where are palisade cells located, what is in them and what are they for?
Near the top of the leaf / packed with chloroplast / allow leaf to absorb a great deal of light
What are the microscopic pores that the leaf contains called?
Stomata
What does the stomata do?
Allow carbon dioxide to diffuse into the leaf
How are stomata opened and closed?
By guard cells
What happens to the guard cells in light?
Water flows to them making them turgid and opens the stomata
What happens to the guard cells at night when there is no light?
Water flows out of guard cells and they become flaccid, stomata sides stick together so it’s shut
Why are leaves thin?
So carbon dioxide doesn’t have to diffuse far into the leaf before reaching cells that need it
What does the stomata allow oxygen and water vapour to do?
To escape into the air
What is gas exchange?
Process when one gas diffuses across a membrane and another gas diffuses in an opposite direction
Why is air thinner at the top of a mountain?
Because there are fewer molecules in each cubic centimetre of air which reduces the concentration of air molecules
What does a lower concentration of air molecules do to the rate of photosynthesis?
It lowers the rate
Why is the rate of reaction for photosynthesis slower when the air has a reduced concentration?
Photosynthesis is catalysed by enzymes which work better in warmer temperatures (high mountain areas are cold)
What is a limiting factor?
A factor that prevents a rate increasing
What are the 3 main limiting factors?
Temperature, carbon dioxide and light intensity
Why can temperature be a limiting factor for photosynthesis?
Because if it’s too hot the enzyme will denature and can no longer catalyse
Why is carbon dioxide concentration a limiting factor fir photosynthesis?
Because a plant can not photosynthesis without enough carbon dioxide
Why do leaves have the adaptations of veins?
To bring in water and remove products of photosynthesis
Why do leaves have the adaptations of air spaces?
For oxygen and carbon dioxide
What does glucose do in the plant?
Make fats and oils / oxidise to release energy to build bigger molecules from smaller molecules / makes cellulose / converts to starch and is stored (starch is insoluble in water) / make amino acids
How does glucose make amino acids in a plant?
Combines with nitrate ions and other mineral ions /