What would life be like if there was no Sun? Without the Sun it would always be night, our planet would be cold and dark and almost nothing would survive.
Plants have a special relationship with the Sun; they are the only living things which can convert the Sun’s energy into food. Imagine being hungry and all you had to do was go sunbathing!
In the Hothouse you will learn all about the process of photosynthesis and how we in turn capture the Sun’s energy by eating plants, or the animals that have fed on them.
What is a Plant?
They come in lots of different colours, shapes and sizes, but what makes a plant a plant? Most plants have roots, stems and leaves and nearly all get their food from sunlight. Each part of a plant has a special job to do:
- The flower is where new seeds are made during pollination
-
Fruits
are the parts of the plant that contain the seeds
- The seed is made when the male pollen and the female egg combine together
- The leaf is the main place where plants make food
- The stem is the main transport system through the plant for food, water, nutrients and waste from the roots to the leaves
-
Roots
support the plant and bore into the ground searching for water and absorbing nutrients from the soil.
Plants For Survival
Every single day of our lives we depend on plants and the raw materials that they give us. From the food we eat and the places we live to the clothes we wear and the medicines that cure us – we owe them all to plants.
Plants give us food – today more than 80% of the world’s food is derived from plants. Without plants to eat, farm animals would not survive and there would be no meat or dairy products. A single cow can eat over sixteen tons of grass a year!
Plants give us clothes – the chances are that you are wearing a plant right now! Nearly half of all the clothes and textiles in the world use the seed hairs from the cotton plant.
Plants give us places to live – timber from trees is an important construction material: we use 48.5 million cubic metres of it every year in Britain alone. For furniture and flooring too, we depend on wood, cork and jute which all come from trees and plants.
Plants give us fuel – petrol is made from oil, which is formed by plants and animals that died millions of years ago. Even sunflowers or sugar cane can power a car.
Plants give us cosmetics and medicines – oil from palm trees is used in soap, mint is used in toothpaste to give us fresh breath, while tea tree oil and witch hazel are often included in antiseptic creams. Today many modern drugs are derived from plant extracts.