Plant Life and the Hydrological Cycle!

Plant Life and the Hydrological Cycle! By: Rachel Check and Joey Kennedy

Hi! I’m Rachel Check and welcome to the section of our book all about plant life! Even though I’m no scientist this book was a ton of fun for me. I wrote it for my 10th grade English class at Siegel High School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. I’ll tell you a little bit about myself; I am 15 years old and one of my favorite things to do is swimming, I actually swim for the Swim Team at Siegel High. I enjoy it very much. I live with my mom, dad and little sister. I love my family very much and we are very close. Well I hope you enjoy this book and I hope it becomes a wonderful resource for you! Enjoy!! Rachel Check

Everyone knows what a flower looks like, feels like, and smells, like but not many people know what a flower actually is. Actually, “Flowers are collections of reproductive and sterile tissue arranged in a tight whorled array”. Now what exactly does that mean? It simply means that the pretty flower that we see is twisted up pieces that contribute to making more flowers. Seems simple enough right? However the flower is not a simple organism. A flower can make more flowers, feed itself and help insects like bees all while just sitting in one place. Let’s find out how!

FUN FACT: FLOWERING PLANTS ARE ANGIOSPERMS. “What do the letter “A” and flowers have in common? They both have Bees coming after them!” Bees are a very common contributor to pollination; the pollinators are the most important tools.

Pollination is one of the most amazing and probably one of the most important processes in the circle of life. The pollination that insects, like bees, participate in is called cross pollination. This is when pollen must be passed from one flower to the next. The way this happens in simple, an outside force such as an insect or the wind or even an animal passes the pollen along.

How does this happen? Well the pollen from one plant will rub off on an insect or animal and that animal rubs against another plant and…PRESTO POLLINATION! The same thing happens with wind, the wind carries the pollen from one plant a “sets” it down on another plant.

Okay so why is this so important? “An estimated 30% of our global crop production is at least partially dependent on animal pollinators”. If that much of our plant growth is affected globally by pollination then I’d say it’s pretty important. In fact every year when it’s time for bumble bee queens to hibernate the fruiting rates are very low.

The real reason pollination is so important is because it contributes to the reproduction of plants. Plants can reproduce two ways: asexual and sexual. Both ways are successful however they are slightly different.

Asexual reproduction is a unique way to reproduce; only plants can do this. Asexual reproduction is unique because it only takes one plant to reproduce. Usually it just takes a piece cut off a plant to grow a new plant, and it’ll turn out the exact same. There are many ways you can do this. You can cut off a bulb and replant it, “A bulb is a short thick underground stem,”. Bulbs and tubers are two ways to propagate in nature, “A tuber is another kind of underground stem. It has a fleshy part that looks like a root”. Both of these are good examples of asexual reproduction however they are not the only ways.

A couple other ways are cutting and grafting. Grafting is used to make many plants of the same traits. Grafting is “[In grafting] a stem cutting with leaves is taken from one plant then the cutting is joined with a related plant. The 1st plant may produce beautiful flowers. The 2nd plant may have strong roots”. Grafting isn’t too much different from cutting. Sometimes a plant can reproduce from a piece of stem with leaves on it, the piece of stem is called cutting.

The sexual process of reproduction is a little more complicated than asexual reproduction. The flower still reproduces alone but a flower that does sexual reproduction will have male and female parts. The male parts are stamens; they fertilize the female parts with pollen. The female parts are called the carpel or pistil and they lead to the other female parts, the ovaries.

First the plant is pollinated and the pollen grain is transferred from the stamens to the carpel. From the carpel the pollen goes throw a tube in search for the ovary where the ovules or eggs are waiting to be fertilized (“Reproduction”). And after all that only one sperm fertilizes the egg. FUN FACT: POLLEN GRAINS CONTAIN MALE GAMETOPHYTE (FARABEE)

Now go on to the next section! All about water!

The Hydrological Cycle!

The Hydrological Cycle, also known as the Water Cycle, is the cycle in which water cycles through the atmosphere, the ground, and plants. Although the Hydrological Cycle has several steps or processes, it has no definite beginning or end and never stops.

The three broad steps in the hydrological cycle are evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. We will discuss each of these in greater depth later in the chapter.

Throughout all steps in the Hydrological Cycle, precipitation is the most noticeable. Precipitation is when water is released from the clouds in the sky. Precipitation comes in many forms, such as rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, or hail. Every single cloud in the sky is made of condensed water and small droplets of water. Without water, clouds would not be able to form, and without clouds it wouldn’t rain!

For rain to form in the clouds little water droplets have to gather around a tiny particle of dust, salt, or smoke. When enough water droplets gather around a single particle it gains enough weight to fall out of the cloud down onto the ground. Wherever you live will determine how much precipitation you receive. Some areas receive extremely large amounts of rainfall while some areas receive very little.

Wherever you live will determine how much precipitation you receive. Some areas receive extremely large amounts of rainfall while some areas receive very little. Have you ever left a bowl of water alone for a while and you come back and you have less water than you began with? This is caused by evaporation.

Evaporation is caused by heat; energy breaks bonds between other water molecules at warm temperatures and then the water will evaporate. Water will evaporate more quickly in higher temperatures. Water will boil at just 212 degrees Fahrenheit or 100 degrees Celsius. Evaporation also consists of evapotranspiration which is the evaporation of water from plants and the soil. Evaporation or evapotranspiration turns liquid water into a vapor that rises into the sky and continues to condense into cloud form and begin the steps of precipitation.

“Approximately 80% of all evaporation is from the oceans, with the remaining 20% coming from inland”. Inland sources of water include rivers, lakes, and streams.

You can easily see the global evaporation rate on any table just fill a cup or bowl with water and leave it on the table. If you come back a few days later the water level will have dropped! Just imagine water evaporating all around you every day of the year. What is condensation? Condensation is the gathering of water vapor so that it can form droplets in clouds and then form precipitation. All clouds are made up of condensed and condensing water vapor. Water takes all of its physical forms during the Hydrological Cycle. During precipitation it is a liquid as in rain or a solid as in snow or freezing rain.

During evaporation it is a vapor, or gas. Also it is a vapor, gas, or liquid during condensation. Since evaporation is happening all around us all the time there is water vapor floating around the air as you read this! Water in all reality is what supports all life. Without water we wouldn’t be here. Water is always moving whether it is in the clouds, rivers, oceans, lakes, or even the streams.

This has been… The Hydrological Cycle Happy Learning 

Plant Life and the Hydrological Cycle!