The Plants

 

A plant is a type of living being that cannot move, swim, run or fly. What makes its leaves green, purple, or red is a chemical known as chlorophyll. There are also variants of plants, such as flowers, among which we can find daisy, rose, dandelion, hydrangea, jasmine, among others.

 

How many kinds of plants are there?, that's a question that many of us have, well, on earth there are about 3500 different types of plants. We can find them in all sizes, appearances, and colors. Some plants are so small that we can only see them through a microscope. Others are so large that they can reach many meters above the ground. Did you know that the tallest living creature in the world is a plant: the gigantic Sequoia. It can grow to a height of 90 meters.

 

Plants also have very different shapes. The stems of the grass are long and thin. Palm trees have large leaves and a long trunk. The cabbages are round and leafy, the ketas are shaped like umbrellas. Cactus are usually short and have thorns. Green plants make their own food. Most of the food is produced in its leaves.

 

The roots hold the plant firmly to the ground so that it does not fall or is not blown away by the wind. The roots also take water and minerals from the soil. The plant needs these elements to live. Some roots store part of the food that leaves make.

 

The flowers are the parts of the plant where the seeds are formed. The seeds will one day grow into new plants.

A fruit is the seed or seeds of a plant along with the fleshy parts that surround it. Green beans, eggplants, and tomatoes, for example, have seeds inside them. To a botanist they are fruits although most of us call them vegetables. Instead, apples, oranges, cherries, and bananas are fruits, both for us and for botanists.

 

The stems support the leaves and flowers. In the stems there are some tubes that carry liquids from top to bottom and from bottom to top of the plant. Some of these tubes carry water mixed with minerals from the roots to the leaves and flowers. Other tubes carry liquid food from the leaves to the rest of the plant. These two liquids are called sap.

                                                                                          ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE- by pixabay

The leaves of green plants are like little food factories. Inside are the chemical substances called chlorophyll, which make the leaves green. The leaves need this substance to make food. When the son illuminates the chlorophyll with his light, the food factories that are the leaves start up.

 

Each of these factories uses two things to make food: they use water, which has risen from the ground through the roots and stems, and a gas called carbon dioxide, which has been taken from the air through the tiny openings that there are in the leaves. With water and carbon dioxide it makes sugar, which is the main food of the plant. at the same time, the factory produces a gas called oxygen. Most of that oxygen goes into the air.

 

The food factory only works when the sun is out. When the sun goes down, the factory stops. Without sunshine (or some electric light), green plants cannot make food and die.

 

Those are the general characteristics of plants, although there are many more. You can consult them in your favorite book or library.

 

                                                          Alberto Navarro González, 4th Grade

 

 

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The School Magazine.