STORAGE IN PLANTS AND ANIMALS (pg173)

Plants don’t have to continuously make food. Animals don’t have to continuously eat.
Photosynthesis cannot occur at night.
WHY DO PLANTS AND ANIMALS
STORE FOOD?

To provide when there is lack of food To make reproductive structure such as fruits,
eg)drought, famine. seeds and embryos which must store food.

WHERE DO PLANTS STORE FOOD?

Food (glucose) made by plants during photosynthesis is stored as starch. Food can be stored in
the leaves (eg onion bulb), roots (tap root: carrots), stems (eg rhizome:-ginger; stem tuber:-
potato), fruits (eg pumpkin, grapes) and seeds (eg seeds of tomato).

WHERE DO ANIMALS STORE FOOD?

Animals store glucose as glycogen in granules. Food can be stored as fat. Excess fat is stored
under the skin. Animals that live in cold conditions have a thick layer of fat or blubber which
is a store of energy and provides insulation (keep them warm). 1 gram of fat has 39kJ of
energy while 1 gram of protein has 17kJ of energy and 1 gram of carbohydrate also has 17kJ
of energy.
Animals also store food as glycogen in the liver. The excess glucose from a meal is changed
to glycogen and stored in the liver. Glycogen is also stored in the muscles. The liver also stores
minerals (iron, potassium) and vitamins (A, D, B12).

GERMINATION pg 177
Germination is the growth of a seed into a seedling! The seed contains the embryo which is
made up of the plumule (grows into the shoot) and the radicle (grows into the root).

1
 For germination to take place the following are needed:
1)Water: a seed can stay in its dehydrated or dormant state for a long time. If the seed gets
water then water moves into the micropyle to all cells. Enzymes are activated and starch is
broken down to glucose for respiration.
2)Oxygen: needed for respiration to get energy for radicle and plumule to grow.
3)Warmth: to provide the optimum/ best temperature for enzymes to work.
Once germination begins, the radicle grows down into the soil developing into roots
and the plumule grows upwards developing into the shoot above ground. Eventually all the
food store in the seed will be used up, by this time leaves will have been developed so the plant
can photosynthesize and make its own food.

TYPES OF GERMINATION
1) Epigeal germination: cotyledons brought above ground.
2) Hypogeal germination: cotyledons remain below ground.

GROWTH IN PLANTS

The growing regions of plants are called apical meristems. These are at the tips of roots and stems.
Here cell division occurs.

HOW TO MEASURE GROWTH IN PLANTS

 Measure changes in length or height of shoot or stem
 Measure changes in mass of entire plant
 Measure surface area of leaves or roots, count number of leaves
* For more accurate results, for example when measuring height, take results after
germination for a number of seedlings then find average.
MEASURING MASS: 1) FRESH MASS (WET): easier to measure, no injury to organism. Disadvantage:
readings fluctuate due to water content. Plants/ animals drink water at different times so results vary.

2) DRY MASS: Mass of organism without any water in it. More accurate but it kills the organism. Place
organism in 1100C oven till there is no more water.