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iGCSE Biology Notes Plant nutrition

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[h] iGCSE Biology Notes Plant nutrition

[q] How do plants get glucose? 

Where do plants get glucose from?

[a] 

  • Glucose is a major energy store in all organisms.
  • Bacteria, fungi and animals get glucose by consuming other organisms, but where do plants get it from?
  • Plants carry out photosynthesis, where they harness the energy in sunlight to help produce glucose.

[q] How do plants get glucose? 

Where do plants get glucose from?

[a] 

  • Photosynthesis is the process by which plants manufacture carbohydrates from raw materials using energy from light.
  • Chlorophyll, a pigment inside chloroplasts is responsible for absorbing light energy and transferring it to chemical energy for synthesising carbohydrates

[q] What are limiting factors? 

How can we make photosynthesis better?

[a] 

  • What is a limiting factor? § A limiting factor is something in limited amount and is therefore limiting the rate of a reaction
  • What things are required for photosynthesis?
  • Carbon dioxide, light and water (and chlorophyll)
  • We’re going to talk about carbon dioxide, light intensity and temperature.

[q] How is carbon dioxide a limiting factor? 

How can we make photosynthesis better? 

[a] 

  • How does carbon dioxide concentration effect photosynthesis?
  • The higher the concentration of carbon dioxide, the higher the rate of photosynthesis (while carbon dioxide is the limiting factor)
  • The rate then plateaus because there is some other limiting factor.

[q] How is light intensity a limiting factor? 

How can we make photosynthesis better?

[a] 

  • How does light intensity effect photosynthesis?
  • The higher the light intensity, the higher the rate of photosynthesis (while light intensity is the limiting factor)
  • The rate then plateaus because there is some other limiting factor.

[q] How is temperature a limiting factor? 

How can we make photosynthesis better?

[a] 

  • How does temperature effect photosynthesis?
  • The higher the temperature, the higher the rate of photosynthesis (while light temperature is the limiting factor)
  • This is because particles have more kinetic energy so there are more effective collisions.
  • The rate then lowers as enzyme’s active sites are denatured, and no longer complimentary to substrates

[q] How do plants use glucose? 

Okay, so what do plants use their glucose for? Can you figure it out?

[a]

 

[q] How do plants use glucose? 

What do plants use glucose/carbohydrates for? 

[a] 

  • Respiration, where glucose is broken down to release energy.
  • Cellulose, which is made of long chains of glucose and used to build the cell wall.
  • Starch, and sent to the stem or roots for storage.
  • Sucrose, which is transported around the plant in the phloem.
  • Lipids, to be put in seeds for an energy store when the seed germinates
  • Sugars, to go into nectar to attract animal pollinators like bats and insects, and also to make fruit sweet so animals will eat them and disperse the seeds.

 

[q] What else do plants need? 

Do plants need more than glucose?

[a] 

  • Plants need more than just glucose from photosynthesis.
  • They also need minerals and nutrients from the soil!
  • Nitrate ions are very important as they are needed to combine with glucose to make amino acids, which are then used to build proteins
  • Magnesium ions are also really important. They are needed to make chlorophyll, without which a plant could not do photosynthesis

[q] What would a plant look like without these things? 

Can you identify the deficiencies?

[a]

Magnesium deficiency. No magnesium to make chlorophyll so the leaves turn yellow! 

Nitrate deficiency. No nitrate ions to make amino acids to make proteins, so much less growth!

[q] What is the structure of a leaf? 

What are the parts of a leaf? 

[a] 

  • Can you match the labels to the correct parts of a leaf?

 

[q] What is the structure of a leaf? 

[a]

 

[q] What does each part of the leaf do? 

What is the difference between xylem and phloem?

[a] DIFFERENCE BETWEEN XYLEM AND PHLOEM

 

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iGCSE Biology Notes Plant nutrition

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