CLASS 8

BIOLOGY CHAPTER-1

Photosynthesis is a way in which plants make food.

The word equation for photosynthesis is

 carbon dioxide + water —> glucose + oxygen + water.

Glucose is the store of chemical potential energy.

Glucose is a sugar. It is a carbohydrate.

Plants make some extra glucose but they don’t store it ,

Instead they turn it into starch.

Farmers add fertilisers to the crops so they grow healthy and large.

Fertilisers contain mineral salts.

Soil doesn’t contain enough minerals so fertilisers provide that minerals.

Mineral salts are made of Nitrate and Magnesium.

Nitrate – It makes chlorophyll and also helps in making new cells.

Magnesium – It also helps in making chlorophyll.

Plant cells contain a lot of water inside their vacuoles.

Water keeps the plant firm and well – supported.

If it doesn’t have enough water it becomes soft and floppy and then dies/wilted.
 There are mineral salts in water too.

Xylem spreads the water across the plant .

In the leaf the water gets evaporated so the plant stays cool.

Only a small proportion of water is used for photosynthesis.

Flowers are brightly coloured so they attract insects.

Insects suck their nectar which sweet and sugary.

While sucking it pollens stick to them which helps in pollination.

Pollens are male and produced in anthers and ovules are female which are produced in ovaries.

Some flowers both have male and female gametes.

Flowers don’t have swimming sperm cells.

They use insects , birds and wind to transport.

Transfer of pollens from anther to stigma is called pollination.

 Reproduction which happens in flowers is sexual.

In sexual reproduction the nucleus of the male and female gamete fuses is called
FERTILISATION.

The new cell is called ZYGOTE.

The zygote starts to divide forming a group of cells called embryo.

The embryo grows into a new plant.

The ovule grows into a seed.

While the ovule is changing into a seed. The ovary also changes into a fruit.

Each plant needs water ,light and mineral salts to grow.

If seeds fell near the plant then the seedlings will not grow properly and will collapse because
they will have to compete with the other plants for water ,light and mineral salts so the seeds
have to be dispersed away from the plant.