New Senior Secondary Mastering Biology (Third Edition)

Book 1B

Ch 10 Transpiration, transport and support in plants

Exercise
Section 10.1
Level 1 (p. 10-44)
1 B 2 B 3 A 4 C

Level 2 (p. 10-44)

5 C 6 A 7 D 8 D

9 a The change in the reading of the measuring cylinder (i.e. water uptake) is larger
than that of the electronic balance (i.e. water loss). 1
This indicates that the plant has a net uptake of water. 1
The water retained in the plant is used for various processes, e.g. photosynthesis and
formation of new cells. 1
b The change in the readings of the electronic balance and the measuring cylinder
would become smaller. 1
As transpiration mainly takes place through the stomata in the leaves, removal of
the leaves greatly reduces the water loss of the plant by transpiration. 1
This, in turn, reduces the transpiration pull, which facilitates the uptake of water by
the roots. Therefore, water uptake of the plant is also reduced. 1

10 DSE Bio 2013 IB Q6

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Book 1B

Performance

Level 3 (p. 10-46)

11 D

12 a The uneven thickness of the cell wall of guard cells is important in controlling the
opening and closing of stomata. 1
When the guard cells take up water from the surrounding cells, the guard cells
become turgid. 1
The thinner outer side of the cell wall expands more than the thicker inner side. 1
Therefore, the guard cells bend and the stoma opens. 1
b Direction X 1
The lines are closer in direction X. 1
This indicates that the concentration gradient of water vapour in direction X is
steeper. 1

13 DSE CS Sample Paper B Q9

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Section 10.2
Level 1 (p. 10-47)
14 A

Level 2 (p. 10-47)

15 A

16 a In experiment I, the rate of absorption of phosphate ions by the roots increases as

the concentration of phosphate ions in the solution increases. 1
In experiment II, there is no absorption of phosphate ions by the roots. 1
b The root cells treated with cyanide cannot release energy by respiration. 1
When the concentration of phosphate ions in the solution is low (below 20 units),
the root cells cannot absorb phosphate ions from the solution against a
concentration gradient by active transport. 1
When the concentration of phosphate ions in the solution becomes higher than that
of the root cells (above 20 units), phosphate ions diffuse into the root cells down a
concentration gradient. 1
The diffusion rate increases as the concentration of phosphate ions in the solution
increases. 1
c In the cell membrane of the root cells, the number of carriers for transporting
phosphate ions is limited. 1
The curve levels off when all the carriers are occupied by phosphate ions. 1

Section 10.3
Level 1 (p. 10-47)
17 A 18 D

19 a Cell X: sieve tube 1

Cell Y: companion cell 1
A nucleus is present in cell Y but absent in cell X. 1
b Cell X is responsible for the transport of organic nutrients in the plant. 1
Cell Y supports the metabolism of cell X. 1

Level 2 (p. 10-48)

20 B 21 A 22 D

23 a Carbon dioxide containing radioactive carbon is converted to carbohydrates during

photosynthesis. 1
Then the carbohydrates are transported to different parts of the plant including the
shoot tips, fruits and roots by phloem. 1

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b Radioactivity was detected above and below the leaf supplied with radioactive
carbon. 1
c The organic food transported to the fruit will be stored. 1
As the organic food transported to the shoot tip is used in respiration to release
energy for growth, radioactivity in the shoot tip is lower than that of the fruit. 1

Level 3 (p. 10-49)

24 B 25 C

26 DSE Bio 2019 IB Q10

Performance

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Section 10.4
Level 1 (p. 10-50)
27 D 28 C

Level 2 (p. 10-50)

29 C

30 DSE Bio 2012 IB Q3

Performance

31 a The herbaceous stem will bend downwards. 1

The woody stem will remain straight. 1
b The herbaceous stem is mainly supported by the turgidity of thin-walled cells in the
stem. 1
When the herbaceous stem is put in concentrated salt solution, the thin-walled cells
in the stem lose water by osmosis and become flaccid. 1
The flaccid cells cannot provide support to the stem to resist bending. 1
Cells in the woody stem have thick and lignified cell walls. 1
The rigidity of these cells provides strong support to the stem to resist bending. 1
c Both stems will remain straight. 1
As the water potential of distilled water is higher than that of the herbaceous stem,
water enters the thin-walled cells of the herbaceous stem by osmosis. 1
The cells become turgid and give support to the stem to resist bending. 1

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 New Senior Secondary Mastering Biology (Third Edition)
Book 1B

32 DSE Bio 2014 IB Q4

Performance

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Book 1B

Level 3 (p. 10-51)

33 a i The lignin makes cell type Q hard and rigid. 1
This provides mechanical support to the plant. 1
This also prevents xylem vessels from collapsing due to the tension of
transpiration pull. 1
ii The rings of lignin allow cell type Q to elongate as the young stem grows. 1
b The low water potential of cell type P allows the cell to draw water from the xylem
vessel by osmosis and become turgid. 1
The turgidity of cell type P provides support to the stem. 1
c Water cannot be transported to the leaves due to the blockage of cell type Q. 1
The water loss from the leaves due to transpiration becomes greater than the water
uptake. 1
The cells in the leaves become flaccid and can no longer support the leaves. 1
Blockage of cell type Q also reduces the amount of minerals transported to the
leaves. Therefore, the leaves become yellow due to mineral deficiencies. 1

Reading to learn (p. 10-52)

1 Xylem 1
2 The vascular system runs through the whole plant body. 1
3 The conductive substance is poisonous to the plant. 1
The conductive substance blocks the vascular tissue. 1
(or other reasonable answers)

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Cross-topic exercise 4
Multiple-choice questions (p. 10-54)
1 B 2 B 3 C 4 A
5 C 6 A 7 B 8 C
9 C 10 C

Short questions (p. 10-56)

11 Transport of oxygen by diffusion can satisfy the low oxygen demand of plant cells. 1
This is because:
In general, plant cells have a lower oxygen demand than animal cells because the
metabolic rate of plant cells is low. 1
Moreover, plant cells can produce oxygen during photosynthesis. The oxygen produced
can be provided to nearby respiring tissues. 1
Plants can obtain oxygen from the environment at different parts of the body such as
leaves (through stomata), stems (through stomata or lenticels) and roots (through root
surfaces). 1
The diffusion distance of gases between the plant surface and the underlying living cells
is relatively short. 1

14
12 a CO2 diffuses into the air spaces in leaf X through the stomata. 1
Then it dissolves in the moist surface of the mesophyll cells and diffuses into the
cells. 1
b i The measured value would have been lowered. 1
This was because no photosynthesis occurred in the dark and fewer organic
nutrients were transported to the roots. 1
ii The measured value would have been lowered. 1
This was because the organic nutrients synthesized in the leaf could not be
transported to the roots through the phloem. 1

13 a The rate of transpiration of plant B is higher than that of plant A 1

because plant B is below a light and the stomata in it open wider. 1
b Flask C is a control. It can be used to check if water is lost without a plant. 1
c The rate of evaporation of water and hence the rate of transpiration of the plant
increases when the temperature increases. 1
d i Plasmolysed 1
ii Air 1

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Structured questions (p. 10-58)

14 CE Bio 2011 I Q10b

Performance

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15 CE Bio 2010 I Q2

Performance

16 a A: guard cell 1
B: stoma 1
b i Water vapour and oxygen 2
ii Use sticky tape 1
to stick a piece of dry cobalt chloride paper to the leaf surface. 1
The dry cobalt chloride paper will change from blue to pink, indicating that
water vapour passes out of the leaf. 1

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Essays (p.10-60)
17 Roles in absorption:
Roots in plants absorb water and minerals while the small intestine in humans absorbs
digested food such as amino acids and fatty acids. 1
Roots absorb water-soluble substances only while the small intestine absorbs both
water-soluble and lipid-soluble substances. 1
Similarities in adaptive features:
Roots are highly branched / have many root hairs to provide a large surface area for
absorption. 1
The inner wall of the small intestine is highly folded and there are many finger-like villi
to increase the surface area for absorption. 1
The epidermis of roots and the epithelium of villi are only one-cell thick. 1
This shortens the diffusion distance for absorption. 1
Differences in adaptive features:
In plants, root hairs are long and fine. This allow them to grow between soil particles
easily and facilitates absorption of water and minerals around the soil particles. 1
In humans, peristalsis occurs in the small intestine. This allows digested food to come
into contact with villi more closely and facilitates absorption of digested food. 1
Communication 3

18 Similarities in structure:
Both humans and flowering plants have two systems of vessels, i.e. blood vessels and
lymph vessels in humans, and xylem and phloem in plants. 1
Differences in structure:
The lymph vessels join the veins near the neck while xylem and phloem are completely
separated. 1
Vessels in humans consist of living cells but in plants, xylem consists of dead cells and
phloem consists of living cells. 1
Blood vessels are elastic while xylem vessels are relatively rigid. 1
Similarities in transport mechanism:
In both humans and plants, a driving force is provided to move substances along vessels.
1
Differences in transport mechanism:
In humans, the heart actively pumps blood around the body. /
The elastic walls of arteries recoil to help move blood forward. /
Valves are present in veins and lymph vessels to prevent backflow of blood and lymph. /
Contraction of skeletal muscles helps squeeze blood and lymph towards the heart.
(any 3) 1×3
In plants, the transport of water is driven by the transpiration pull. There is no special
structure to push fluid forward or prevent its backflow. 1
Communication 3

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