Vascular Highway Anchor Chart Vascular Highway
How Plants Move the Good Stuff
XYLEM
One Way Only
THE CARGO:
Water + Dissolved Minerals
THE ROUTE:
Roots Stems Leaves
Think: "Xylem goes to the sky-lem!"
PHLOEM
Two-Way Street
THE CARGO:
Glucose (Sugar/Food)
THE ROUTE:
Leaves Everywhere!
Think: "Phloem flows for the whole-m!"
Transport is vital for survival!
Leaves are the Sugar Factory
Roots anchor and absorb
Solar Power Station Anchor Chart Solar Power Station
Photosynthesis: Making Food from Thin Air (and Light!)
The Recipe for Sugar
Light Energy
Water
Carbon Dioxide
Glucose
Oxygen
THE KITCHEN
Chloroplasts
The organelles inside plant cells where the magic happens. They contain chlorophyll, the green pigment that traps sunlight.
DID YOU KNOW?
Storage
Plants don't eat all their sugar at once! They turn extra glucose into starch for later use.
This is why potatoes and corn are so starchy!
6CO2 + 6H2O + Light → C6H12O6 + 6O2
The Great Escape Anchor Chart The Great Escape
Transpiration: Why Plants "Sweat"
What is Transpiration?
The process where plants release water vapor through their leaves and into the air.
Water in Roots
Up the Xylem
Out the Leaf
STOMATA
The Tiny Portals
Microscopic pores found mostly on the bottom of leaves. They control gas exchange (CO2 in, O2 and Water out).
GUARD CELLS
The Gatekeepers
Specialized cells that surround the stomata. They swell to open the pore and shrink to close it.
Daytime: Usually Open
Nighttime: Usually Closed
Why do it?
Transpiration acts like a straw, creating a pull that moves water from the roots all the way to the top of the plant!
Flower Factory Anchor Chart Flower Factory
Reproduction: The Next Generation
MALE: STAMEN
Anther
Produces and holds pollen (sperm cells).
Filament
The stalk that supports the anther.
FEMALE: PISTIL
Stigma
The sticky top that catches pollen.
Style
Tube that pollen travels down.
Ovary
Contains ovules (eggs). Becomes the FRUIT !
The Reproduction Cycle
POLLINATION
Pollen moves to Stigma
FERTILIZATION
Sperm meets Egg
SEED FORMATION
Zygote grows into Seed
GERMINATION
Seed starts to grow
Non-Reproductive Parts: Petals (Attract) & Sepals (Protect)
System Synergy Anchor Chart System Synergy
Interaction, Integration, & Innovation
Plant systems don't work alone! Their structures allow them to communicate and share resources to survive and grow.
Response
Transport
"Hormones like Auxins travel through the Phloem to reach the stem, causing cells to stretch toward light (Phototropism)."
Reproduction
Transport
"The Vascular Tissue delivers sugar (glucose) and water to the Flowers and developing Fruit."
Response: The Tropisms
Photo-
Response to Light . Stems grow up; leaves turn to sun.
Gravi-
Response to Gravity . Roots go down; stems go up.
Thigmo-
Response to Touch . Vines wrap around trellises.
Structural Facilitator: HORMONES
Chemical messengers (like auxins) that coordinate response between systems.
Structural Facilitator: TURGOR PRESSURE
Water pressure in the Vacuole helps the plant stand upright or move its leaves.
