15/03/2024

Plant nutrition
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Learning Objectives
• What does the process of photosynthesis involve?
• Write the balanced chemical equation for
photosynthesis
• How are carbohydrates made in photosynthesis
used and stored?
• What is the importance of nitrate ions for making
amino acids?
• What is the importance of magnesium ions for
making chlorophyll?
• What are the limiting factors of photosynthesis?
• Identify the various parts of the leaf and explain
how they are adapted for photosynthesis
 Photosynthesis
15/03/2024

Basically, photosynthesis is the process through which a plant makes its

own food by converting light energy into chemical energy using water and
carbon dioxide:

That’s a nice plant. I’m

going to put it in the sun and
give it lots of water and air…

CO2

H2 O
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Photosynthesis

• Green plants make their own food

• They use simple inorganic substances
– carbon dioxide, water & minerals –
from the air and soil
• “Photo” means light and “synthesis”
means manufacture
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Photosynthesis – the 4 things you need
SUNLIGHT
Gives the plant energy
CHLOROPHYLL
The green
stuff
where the
WATER chemical
Travels up reactions
from the roots happen

CARBON DIOXIDE
Enters the leaf through small
holes on the lower epidermis
 Photosynthesis equations
15/03/2024

Sunlight
Carbon dioxide + _____ glucose + _____
Chlorophyll

Sunlight
6CO2 + 6H20 C6H12O6 + 6O2
Chlorophyll

The GLUCOSE produced by photosynthesis is used by the

plant for _______ (through ____________). It is stored in
the plant as ___________.

Words – respiration, starch, water, oxygen, energy

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Encouraging Photosynthesis
Using knowledge of limiting factors, explain how plant growth
is encouraged in a greenhouse:

What is the disadvantage

of a farmer always using
the best balance of
temperature and CO2?

It’s going to be
expensive!
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Photosynthesis in leaves
• Photosynthesis takes place inside chloroplasts
• This is where the enzymes and chlorophyll are
that catalyse and supply energy for the reaction
• Most chloroplasts are in the cells of the leaves
• A leaf is a factory for making carbohydrates
• Leaves are specially adapted to allow
photosynthesis to take place as quickly and
efficiently as possible
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Structure of a leaf
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Transverse section through leaf
 Structure of the Leaf
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Notice how leaves are adapted for photosynthesis

and gas exchange: Large
Lots of Transparent
surface area
chlorophyll
Thin
Packed with
structure
chloroplasts

Network of
veins Lots of air
spaces

Holes
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Guard Cells and Stomata

The roles of guard cells and stomata are to control

gas exchange and water loss.
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Adaptations of leaves for photosynthesis
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Leaf adaptations
Carbon Dioxide:
• Carbon dioxide is obtained from the air
• 0.04%of the air is carbon dioxide
• The large surface area of the leaf helps to expose
it to as much air as possible
• CO2 enters the leaf through the stomata
• Behind each stoma is an air space which connects
with other air spaces between the spongy
mesophyll cells
• The CO2 can thus diffuse to all the cells in the
leaf
• It can then diffuse through the cell wall and cell
membrane of each cell and into the chloroplasts
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Water:
• Water is obtained from the soil
• It is absorbed by the root hairs and
carried up to the leaves in the xylem
vessels
• It then travels from the xylem
vessels to the mesophyll cells by
osmosis
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Sunlight:
• The position of a leaf and its broad, flat surface
help it obtain as much sunlight as possible.
• The leaves of a tree are arranged such that they
don’t cut off light from one another more than
necessary
• Plants that live in shady places often have
particularly big leaves
• The cells that need sunlight are the mesophyll
cells
• The thinness of the leaf allows sunlight to
penetrate right through it & reach all the cells
• To help this epidermal cells are transparent, with
no chloroplasts
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Carbohydrates made in photosynthesis

• Starch as an energy store

• Cellulose to build cell walls
• Glucose used in respiration to provide
energy
• Sucrose for transport in phloem
• Nectar to attract insects for
pollination
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Used for energy
• Energy may be released from glucose
in the leaf
• All cells need energy, which they
obtain from the process of
respiration
• Some of the glucose which a leaf
makes will be broken down by
respiration to release energy
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Stored as starch
• Glucose is a simple sugar, soluble in water
and quite reactive, therefore, not a good
storage molecule
• It is therefore, converted into starch to
be stored
• Starch is a polysaccharide, made up of
many glucose molecules. Since it is a big
molecule, it is not very reactive or very
soluble
• Starch can be made into granules which can
be easily stored in the chloroplasts
Used to make proteins & other organic
15/03/2024

substances
• Plants make the carbohydrates sucrose and cellulose
• They also make fats and oils
• Plants can use the sugars they make in photosynthesis to
make amino acids which can then be made into proteins
• For this they need nitrogen
• There is 78% nitrogen in the air but it is very unreactive
• They absorb nitrate ions from the soil, through their root
hairs by diffusion and active transport
• The nitrate ions combine with glucose to make amino acids
• Plants also make chlorophyll for which they need nitrogen
and magnesium (from the soil).
• Farmers often add extra mineral ions to the soil in which
their crops are growing to ensure that they don’t run short
of these essential substances
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Minerals required by plants
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Changed to sucrose for transport
• For transportation a molecule has to be small and soluble.
Glucose has both these properties but is also rather
reactive

• It is therefore, converted to the complex sugar sucrose to

be transported to other parts of the plant

• Sucrose molecules are also quite small and soluble but less
reactive than glucose

• Sucrose dissolves in the sap in the phloem vessels and can be

distributed to whichever parts of the plant need them

• Later sucrose may be turned back to glucose to be broken

down to release energy, or turned into starch and stored, or
used to make other substances needed for growth
Investigating the Effect of a factor on 15/03/2024

rate of Photosynthesis
Task: Investigate how these factors affect the rate of
photosynthesis:
1) Temperature
2) Amount of light
3) Amount of CO2
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Limiting the Rate of Photosynthesis
What factors could limit the rate of photosynthesis?
1. Temperature – the best temperature is
about _____ – anything above _____ will
slow photosynthesis right down

2. CO2 – if there is more carbon dioxide

photosynthesis will happen ______

3. Light – if there is _____ light

photosynthesis happens faster

4. Amount of chlorophyll – the more

chlorophyll, the ______ photosynthesis

Words – quicker, 40OC, 30OC, more, more

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Learning objective

• Investigate and describe the effects

of varying light intensity, carbon
dioxide concentration and
temperature on the rate of
photosynthesis
 Sunlight as a limiting factor

03/15/2024
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Carbon dioxide as a limiting factor
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Temperature as a limiting factor

• The chemical reactions of

photosynthesis can only take place
very slowly at low temperatures
• So a plant can photosynthesize faster
on a warm day than on a cold one
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Learning Objectives

• Investigate the need for chlorophyll,

light and carbon dioxide for
photosynthesis, using appropriate
controls
• Investigate and describe the effect
of light and dark conditions on gas
exchange in an aquatic plant using
hydrogen carbonate indicator solution
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Testing leaves for starch
• Iodine solution is used to test for starch
• A blue black color shows that starch is present
• Since starch is inside the chloroplasts, the iodine
solution cannot get through the cell membranes &
react with it
• Before testing for starch you must break down
the membranes (by boiling in water) and get rid of
the green color of chlorophyll (by dissolving it out
with alcohol)
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Testing leaves for starch
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Controls
• The control plant or leaf has all the substances it
needs, while the experimental plant or leaf is
lacking one substance
• Both plants or leaves are then treated in exactly
the same way.
• This ensures that any differences between them
at the end must be because of the substance
being tested
• At the end if we test a leaf from the
experimental plant and one from the control plant
for the presence of starch, we can find out which
substances are necessary for photosynthesis
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Destarching plants
• To destarch plants at the start of the experiment
leave them in a dark cupboard for atleast 24 hours
• In the dark they cannot photosynthesize and use
up their starch stores
• To ensure they are thoroughly destarched, test a
leaf for starch before you begin
• This way we can ensure that any starch present at
the end was made during the experiment
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Investigate the need for light
Investigating the need for 15/03/2024

chlorophyll

• https://www.savemyexams.com/igcse
/biology/cie/23/revision-notes/6-pla
nt-nutrition/6-1-photosynthesis-and-l
eaf-structure/6-1-5-investigating-th
e-need-for-chlorophyll-light--carbon-
dioxide/
 15/03/2024
Investigating effect of light & dark
conditions on aquatic plants

• https://www.savemyexams.com/igcse
/biology/cie/23/revision-notes/6-pla
nt-nutrition/6-1-photosynthesis-and-l
eaf-structure/6-1-7-investigating-gas
-exchange/
 15/03/2024
Quiz
Explain how each of the following helps a leaf to
photosynthesize
• There is a space behind each stoma
• The epidermal cells of a leaf do not have
chloroplasts
• Leaves have a large surface area
• The veins in a leaf branch repeatedly
• Chloroplasts have many membranes in them

Which carbohydrate does a plant use for each of

these purposes? Explain why
• Transport
• Storage