Plant Facts

Created By: Lottie Freese

Table of Contents
Importance of Plants 3-4
Adaptation 5
Survival 6-7
Venus Flytrap 8
Stinging Nettle 9
Glossary 10
More Information 11
Credits 12
 Importance of Plants
DID YOU KNOW YOU COULDN’T LIVE WITHOUT PLANTS?

Plants provide oxygen-what people and

animals breathe. Plants also provide
much of the food they eat too! Click the
video to the left to find out more
information on this process.

PLANTS TAKE IN CARBON DIOXIDE AND

CREATE OXYGEN!

Plants are living things, just like us!

They do amazing things like make their
own food. They even can mostly grow
everywhere and they keep on growing
until they die.

Plants come in all shapes and sizes! Some have colorful flowers, and
some have no flowers at all. Some are tiny, and others are very tall!
 Importance of Plants
Plants live in many different
places! They live in swamps
and deserts. They live on
mountaintops and in river
valleys. They have adapted,
or changed, so they can
survive in these places.

Unlike us, plants can’t move around.

Most plants are rooted in one place.
But they still need to protect
themselves from their enemies. Many
plants have developed different ways
to protect themselves from their
enemies. Some produce poisons and
others catch and eat animals! Click the
video below to learn more information
about the parts of a plant.

DID YOU KNOW?

More than 350,000 kinds of
plants have been discovered!
Click here to view the
different plant species.
 Adaptation
Plants are found all over the place!
They are found in your backyard,
rainforests, deserts, and the North
and South Poles. Since we learned
that plants cannot move like we do,
it is important that they are in the
right environment.

DID YOU KNOW?

Sunflowers only grow well where
the weather is warm and sunny.
They turn their flowers to face the
sun. They do this to absorb as
much sunlight as possible. Click the
video to the right to learn more!

Other plants adapt to the season. In a

woodland where the sun is covered,
many plants compete for light. In
spring, plants grow new leaves. Ferns
are one of the first plants to grow new
leaves. They do this before the trees
have sprouted leaves so they can catch
lots of light before they are shaded by
the trees.

In the cold and open places, plants grow close to the ground so that
they are protected from strong winds.
 Survival
HOW DO PLANTS SURVIVE EXTREME CONDITIONS?
Each environment presents new problems for plants. But plants have
special features that help them. Some plants can survive and even
thrive in hostile environments.

DISGUISES
Some plants use disguises to hide
them from plant eating animals.
Blending in with the background like
this is called camouflage. With its
fleshy, grey leaves, the pebble plant is
difficult to spot against the
surrounding pebbles. Most of the
time, animals mistake the leaves for
real stones and do not try to eat them.

DESERTS

In deserts, plants receive plenty of

sunlight but very little water. When it
does rain, they soak up as much water
as they can. Their roots are often very
close to the surface of the soil. They are
ready and waiting to catch any water
that falls. To hold onto that water,
desert plants have a thick, waxy
surface, and spikes instead of leaves.
This stops the water from being lost
across their outside surface.
 Survival
WATER
Water plants face their own
survival problems. A water lily’s
flowers either float at the
surface or are held high on long
stems. The upper surface of
each leaf is a waxy and repels
water. The wide, flat leaves,
float on the water and are
supported by a long stalks. The RAINFORESTS
stalks are filled with air Rainforests are found in
chambers that supply oxygen. hot and rainy regions of
the world. They have
lots of sunlight and lots
of rain. Thousands of
plant species are able to
grow here. They all
compete for light and
minerals. Rainforest
trees grow very fast and
extremely tall. Some
stand over 150 feet tall!

MOUNTAINS
Mountain plants have to survive strong sunshine, frost, and bitterly
cold winds. Water may be scarce too, as there is often low rainfall.
Therefore, plants have fine hairs on their leaves to reduce water
loss and protect them from sun damage.
 Venus Flytrap
MEAT-EATING PLANTS
Out of all the kinds of plants, only about 400 eat meat. Most of the
meat eating plants grow in swamps or marshes. The soil in these places
are poor, meaning it doesn’t have enough minerals to keep the plants
healthy. So meat-eating plants get their minerals by eating animals.

One of the best known meat-eating plants is

the Venus flytrap. The Venus flytrap offers its
victims a sweet treat, a sugary liquid that
covers its leaves. Insects smell the sweet liquid
and crawl onto the leaves. The tiny hairs on
the leaves know the insect is there and SNAP,
the leaves snap shut. Within 30 minutes, the
insect is squashed and killed. Then the trap
fills with liquid. Over a week or two, most of
the insects body dissolves into a kind of soup.
After the plant eats it, the leaves open up
again and they’re ready for the next meal to
arrive. Click the video below to watch the
Venus flytrap in action.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Venus flytrap is the most
popular. People like to have them
as house plants.
 Stinging Nettle
POISONOUS PLANTS
Unlike meat-eating plants, poisonous plants can hurt or even kill
people. These plants make poisons to stop their enemies from eating
them. These plants sting any animal that brushes by them. Other
poisonous plants will actually prick animals with their poison.

The stinging nettle stings any animal that

touches it. The leaves of the stinging nettle
are covered with millions of tiny, hollow
spikes. The spikes are filled with acid. The
tips of the spikes are like glass. They break
off when they’re touched. What is left of
the spike is very sharp. Click here for more
information about the stinging nettle.

If you happen to brush by a

stinging nettle, its spikes
will cut your skin. Then acid
will flow into the cut and
you’ll get a hot painful rash.
DID YOU KNOW?
Usually the rash will go
The stinging nettle is sometimes
away after an hour, but
grown on farms. The plant
some people suffer for a day
produces a strong fiber that is
or more.
used to make a type of cloth.
 Glossary
Acid A substance that can burn your skin

Adapt To change to fit new conditions

Chamber An enclosed space

Dissolve To mix with a liquid

Environment Physical surrounding

Features Structure or form

Hostile Harsh and unfriendly

Mineral An element needed by plants and animals

Oxygen A gas that animals need to survive

Poison A substance that can make you ill

Rash An irritation of the skin

Repel To keep out, resist

Survive To keep living

Thrive To succeed
 More Information

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 Credits
http://www.theplantlist.org/

http://www.softschools.com/facts/plants/common_nettle_facts/
595/

https://www.factmonster.com/

https://science.jrank.org/kids/pages/73/PLANT-
SURVIVAL.html
 About the Author
My name is Lottie Freese. I was
born and raised in Dubuque,
Iowa. I currently attend Loras
College. I’m majoring in
Elementary Education and an
endorsement in math. I hope to
teach in or around Dubuque
once I graduate. I have a dog
named Franco Harrington and
we love taking hikes! I hope you
enjoyed this book about plants
and learned a lot of new
information.

FUN FACT
I love planting
flowers outside my
house. Franco
helps me water my
plants by jumping
in front of the
hose. My favorite
flowers are
sunflowers. What
are yours?