A complete term’s worth of extensive biology notes regarding the topic of Plant Physiology. These notes cover, in thorough detail, the following learning intentions:
(1) Introduction to Plant Physiology: a brief overview of angiosperms, morphological adaptations, subterranean root systems and aerial shoot system of stems and leaves.
(2) Monocots and Dicots: compare and contrasting the structure and function of monocotyledons and dicotyledons.
(3) Roots: an extensive explanation of roots, including the structure, function and purpose of roots, as well as definitions of the parts of a root including root hairs, epidermis, cortex, endodermis, casparian strip, pericycle and vascular tissue. The root tip structure is also studied, including the zone of elongation, meristematic zone and root cap.
(4) Stems (Shoot Systems): an overview of shoot systems and stems, including the parts of the stem including the auxiliary bud, apex, terminal bud, dermal tissue, cuticle, vascular tissue, xylem and phloem, cortex and the pith.
(5) Water Flow in Plants: an extensive overview of the process of transpiration in plants, its importance, physical factors of water in transpiration including capillarity, adhesion and cohesion, the factors that affect transpiration rate (humidity, wind, temperature and soil moisture), the osmotic gradient, root pressure, guttation and turgor pressure.
(6) Xylem and Phloem: an extensive explanation of the xylem and phloem and its structure, including terms such as lignin, functional maturity, sieve plates, plasmodesmata and the differences between xylem and phloem.
(7) Leaves: the structure and function of leaves, including terms such as stomata, guard cells, palisade layer, petiole, lamina, abaxial surface, adaxial surface, isobilateral, epidermis and the palisade mesophyll.
(8) Gas Exchange in Plants: an overview of gas exchange occurring in plants, particularly in roots, stems, particularly through lenticels, and in leaves including terms such as stomata, stoma and how it controls the exchange of gases.
(9) Meristematic Regions: a brief overview of meristems, apical meristems, primary growth, secondary growth, the cork cambium and cork tissue.
(10) Adaptations of Leaves for Photosynthesis: an brief overview of photosynthesis and the adaptations of the plant for this process, the differences between respiration and photosynthesis is explored in plants and the definition of compensation point.
(11) Photosynthesis: an extensive explanation of this process, its importance for plants and extensive details regarding the light dependent reaction where energy from sunlight is absorbed by chlorophyll and converted into chemical energy in the form of electron carrier molecules like ATP and NADPH to produce phosphogylceraldehyde (PGAL) in the Dark Reaction or ‘Calvin Cycle’.
(12) Chloroplasts: types of photosynthetic pigments in chloroplasts including B-carotene, phycocyanin and phycoerythrin, the structure and function of the chloroplast including thylakoid, lamellae, granum and the stroma.
(13) Limiting Factors of Photosynthesis: a study of the main factors that limit photosynthesis, including light intensity, carbon dioxide concentration and temperature.