Maintaining Life

üDescribe the pathway of water and

mineral salts from the roots to the
leaves in flowering plants, including
absorption in root hair cells, transport
through xylem and transpiration from
the surface of leaves.
What
you
think,
see and
wonder?
What are
the parts
of
plants?
 Questions.
Why do you think seeds always grow
a root before they grow a shoot?
What are these tiny hairs you can see
here?

What do these hairs do?

The function of Roots
1. Absorbing water n
Minerals and transport
them to stems

2. Storing food
 How plant use water?
q Like all living things, plants need water.
q Water in the soil is absorbed by the roots
and travels through the stems to the
leaves.
q Water carries nutrients back and forth
between roots and leaves.
q During photosynthesis, plant leaves need
water, nutrients and sunlight to make their
own food.
How water moves up the
plant?
Plants contain two types of transport vessel:
• Xylem vessels – transport water and
minerals from the roots to the stem and
leaves
• Phloem vessels – transport food materials
made by the plant. (to roots or stems)
How water moves up the
plant?
Root Hair Cells
q Root hairs grow between soil
particles and absorb water and
minerals from the soil.
q Water enters the root hair cells
by osmosis.
q This happens because soil water
has a higher water potential tha
the cytoplasm of the root hair
cell.
Xylem in the roots and stems
 How water moves up the
plant?
v Osmosis causes water to pass into the root hair
cells and into the xylem vessels.
vOnce the water gets into the xylem, it is carried
up to the leaves where it enters leaf

root hair cell → xylem → leaf

How water moves through the leaves?
Water travels up xylem from the roots into the
leaves of the plant to replace the water that has
been lost due to transpiration.

Transpiration is defined as the loss of water

vapour from plant leaves.
Transpiration: evaporation and diffusion
 Transpiration functions

• transporting mineral ions

• providing water to keep cells turgid in
order to support the structure of the
plant
• providing water to leaf cells
for photosynthesis
• keeping the leaves cool. The using up
of heat to convert water into water
vapour helps to cool the plant down).
Thank you