The Plants Edition

By: Kieran Gray and the rest of Bio 11 hounors

classs judgmental feedback

The Contestants

Carla Cornstalk: An Angiosperm

Marley Moss: A Bryophyte
Garth Ginkgo: A Gymnosperm
Fern the One Name Wonder: A Pteridophyte
Hal Hornwort: A Bryophyte
Paula Pine-Tree: A Gymnosperm
Homer Horsetail: A Pteridophyte
Lily Pad: An Angiosperm

Farmers Field in Saskatchewan,

Canada
Characteristics
Temperature: -10C to 15C
Area is flat
Few wetlands
Extremely fertile
Extreme conditions
There are little space for plants

Who was eliminated?

The first Eliminated from the Amazing Plant Race was
Marley Moss. Why? Because he has fagellated sperm, she
couldnt reproduce as there was no water above the ground.
This also means that he didnt have the necessary water to
survive because he didnt have any roots to access the
water in the fertile environment. He also wasnt able to
access light for photosynthesis as he was on the ground
while he was surrounded by plants over between 3 to 4 feet
tall. He finally didnt have any predators but he didnt need
any as it couldnt survive the environment. We now will
head to Scotland.

Peat Bog, Northern Scotland

Characteristics
Temperature: 0C to 25C
Area is Flat
Area is full water and decomposed plants
Land in extremely fertile
Lacks extreme conditions
There is a good amount of space for each
plant

Who was eliminated?

The Second contestant eliminated was Carla
Cornstalk. Why? The first reason was that Carla couldnt
release enough water from herself causing her cells to
lysis. Also, as she stood tall in soil, her roots couldnt hold
her up as the ground isnt very solid and she has small
roots. Finally ,many of the insects would eat her because of
her delicious buttery corn. And now we move on to the
country of China and the Xinjiang Semi Dessert.

Xinjiang Semi Desert, China

Characteristics
Temperature: -5 C to 26.5 C
Lots of rolling dunes
Made up of mostly sand
Land isnt fertile
No dessert storms
There is a good amount of space for each
plant

Who was eliminated?

The Third Contestant eliminated from this totally fake
event wasLily Pad. Why? As she cant store water very
well, as she was at a disadvantage in a dessert. As a
dessert is a very dry environment and lily pads flourish in a
very wet environment, Lily probably wouldnt do so good.
Because its so dry, Lily will die as she would dry out.
Though there arent many animals out there, some would
eat Lily Pad as she has no protection against predators. We
now move on to the fourth location, The African Savannah.

African Savannah
Characteristics
Temperature: 20 C to 30 C
There is a small amount of mountains, but
area is mostly a flat plateau
Area is made up of dirt and rock
Land isnt fertile
Some water

Who was eliminated?

The Fourth contestant eliminanated was Hal

Hornwort. Why? The first problem Hal had was that he
needed lots of water to survive because he doesnt have
any vascular tissue. In the savannah, there isnt enough
water for him to survive. Unfortunatly, Hal needs lots of
water but, is in a water scarce environment and Hal would
dry out just like Lily Pad did. Hal had bearly any defenses
leaving it as a great snack for many small animals. That
would harm Hal greatly and so Hal was eliminated. We
arent done though as this was a double
elimination( budget cuts)

Who as Also Eliminated?

Unfortunately, the one named wonder Fern was also

eliminated. Why? Fern had hyphae instead of roots so he
would die in a savannah as most of its water is
underground instead of in the air. Fern would dry out
because of his lack of the ability to pull water out of the
ground. There are many animals out there in the
savannah that will easy eat the fronds(not leaves, he is
very sensitive about that folks) on Fern because it has no
defenses to resist said predators. We now move on to
the semi-final in the Amazon Rainforest located in Brazil.

Amazon Rainforest, Brazil

Characteristics:
Temperature: Between 20 C and 30 C
Few hills but, very rocky and rough terrain
covered by layers and layers of plants.
Quite Fertile
Plenty of insects, some animals
Small amount of space for each plant
Quite humid

Who was eliminated?

The third place contestantand the next contestant
eliminated was Paula Pine-Tree. Why? Because of her
small needles on her branches, she didnt have much access
to enough light as the other trees who had bigger leaves.
This left Paula in the shade. Paula Pine tree kept her water
fairly well but ,when placed in a very humid environment,
Paula didnt have big enough leaves to expel the water.
Because of her thick bark there weren't any predators that
would have harmed her but, as a sapling she could still have
been damaged. We now vacation to Honalulu in Hawaii were
Homer Horsetail and Garth Ginkgo will battle for the win.

Honolulu, Hawaii
Characteristics
Temperature between 19 C and 32 C
Extremely flat with few mountains and a big
crater
Somewhat Fertile
Plenty of insects and some animals
Some area for each plant
Very humid

Who Won?
The winner of the Amazing Plant Race winner is Garth Ginkgo.
Garth had strong seeds to protect his embryo and he has a
vascular system. After the Institute for finding Random Things( one
of our sponsors) I realized that The Ginkgoes have been on earth
for over 270 million years proving it can withstand a plethora of
environments. They also have roots above and below the ground to
access water everywhere. The Ginkgoes also have resistance to
diseases and also has insect-resistant wood so it wouldnt get
eaten or damaged. Both of these facts Garth used to with stand
the harsh environments and proceeded to win the contest.
Hope you enjoyed Mrs. Nickel

Post-Race
Analysis:

Question #1

If the locations had been reversed, would you have

chosen a different winner? Why or why not?

If the environments were in a backwards order, I

probably would still have Garth Ginkgo win because it
can withstand a verity of environments. They also have
roots above and below the ground to access water quite
well. The only thing that would happen would probably
be the middle order of eliminations. If I was to go
completely of base, Fern would win because he had the
best name.

Question #2

Would you expect each student in the class to choose

the same winner as you did? Why or why not?

In our group we did talk about in what order we thought

the plant should be eliminated in. I doubt there would be
many student, if any, with the same answers as me. I
would say that it would be more likely that certain plant
would be eliminated by many while others are
completely different. Also if the students had the same
plant eliminated, their WHY would be different because it
was opinion based.

Question #3

Can you think of a plant that was not chosen as a

contestant that would be a better winner than the one
you chose? I0f so, which plant?

I am not one to fraternize with plants and quite honestly,

I dont know any thing about other plants. If I had to
chose a plant, I would like to see the distance Venus
bug eater Flytrap would go. (like the name)