B2 chapter 2: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.

7
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
Green plants & algae make their own food from light energy. They make
food from air and soil; this enables growth, respiration and reproduction to
take place.
Photosynthesis equation:
- Carbon dioxide + water glucose + oxygen (plus light energy)
Cells in algae & leaves are filled with green parts known has chloroplasts
and have a green substance called chlorophyll.
Algae are aquatic; therefore can photosynthesis in water by absorbing
carbon dioxide dissolved in surrounding water.
- Light is absorbed by chlorophyll in chloroplasts. This produces energy that
changes carbon dioxide from the air and water (from to soil) to make
glucose (sugar).
- Waste chemical is known as oxygen.
- Glucose is used for respiration but other is stored as insoluble starch
(yellow brown liquid). This turns blue once combined with starch, you can
use this iodine test to see if photosynthesis has taken place in a plant.
Leaves of plants are adapted as they are:
- Large, this enables light to fall on them due to
surface area
- Contain chlorophyll &
chloroplasts
- Have air spaces that allow
carbon dioxide to get in cells
and oxygen to release (stomata
gas exchange through
diffusion)
- They have veins, that transport water
to cells of the leaf

a big

Adaption

Purpose

Thin, waxy cuticle made of wax

To protect the leaf without blocking out light

Thin, transparent epidermis

To allow more light to reach the palisade cells

Layer of palisade cells on the top

surface

To absorb light

Many chloroplasts in the palisade

cells

To increase absorption of light

Spongy mesophyll inside the leaf

Air spaces allow carbon dioxide to diffuse

through the leaf, and increase the surface
area
Plants grow quicker in the summer, than the winter. This is due to limiting
factors, this includes light, temperature and CO 2 levels:

 Light means photosynthesis can take place at a quicker rate. If there is

little/ no light than this process cannot happen even with other factors.
The brighter the plant, the faster the rate of photosynthesis. However, this
works at a certain extent and then no matter how much light is increased,
the rate of photosynthesis wont increase.
Temperature affects chemical reactions, as the temperature raises so does
the chemical reaction. However, this is controlled by enzymes so it only
works up to a certain temperature before the enzymes denature at 40-50o,
this then causes the rate to fall back down. If its colder, the rate drops.
Carbon dioxide is needed to make glucose; this can be limited to the
amount in the atmosphere. During the day there is less, at night the
amount of carbon dioxide increases. A plant respires in all conditions but
wont photosynthesis. As light and temperature increase the carbon
dioxide is used. You can create higher levels of this in greenhouse
artificially to increase the rate at which plants grow at.
Glucose can be
used to respire, this is
made during
respiration. This
is broken down using
oxygen to provide
energy; carbon
dioxide and water is the
waste

product.
The energy
respiration is

released for
used to turn smaller

molecules into a
bigger one. Glucose can
also be built up to make
more complex carbohydrates like cellulose, to strengthen
walls. This can also be used to make amino acids by
combining mineral and nitrate ions with sugars (both
plants and algae, however algae also take materials from
water). These make up proteins.
Glucose also used to make fats and oil which is stored, allows
cell walls to be stronger and now has an increased
amount of energy. Some algae are rich and can be an alternative for
biofuel in the future.

As glucose in soluble in water, it can affect the water balance of the plant
therefore needs to be stored as starch which is insoluble in water. This is
kept in a special storage and plants produce tubers (modified part of plant
which is used to store food as starch) and bulbs which help
The tomato plant on
them survive in colder weather. We eat potatoes and onions
the left is healthy; the
for their starch.
one on the right is
growing in conditions
where mineral ions are

Polytunnels (greenhouse made of plastics) are used to grow

crops. Inside, the temperature tends to be warmer which helps increase
the rate of growth. Fruits are made earlier, with larger yields and you can
grow a larger variety for all seasons.

 Plants can be grown in water and maintain a perfect balance of mineral

ions and no longer require soil, this means that growth is not slowed down,
this is known as hydroponics. Even though a lot of energy is needed, less
staff is needed. Alarms and monitoring system are kept so that you know if
anything goes wrong.
Paraffin lamps can replicate light, but burning it can produce heat and
carbon dioxide, farmers need to find the optimum growing conditions for
each individual crop. The use of artificial light allows photosynthesis to
continue beyond daylight hours. Bright lights also provide a higher-thannormal light intensity.
DISTRUBUTION OF ORGANISMS
In living organisms communities are formed, and plants and animals
become dependent on each other.
- In cold climates, temperature is a limiting factor, hence why arctic plants
are small. This affects the number of
herbivores
that can survive in that area.
- Nutrients (level of mineral ions) e.g.
nitrate ions have an impact on plants.
Carnivorous plants such as the Venus
flytrap require low levels of nitrate as they
need to be able to trap and digest animals,
the nutrients they need come from
their prey. Other plants will struggle to
grow in these areas due to low
amounts of minerals available.
- Low light limits photosynthesis. Plants
may be adapted to deal with this, for this bigger
leaves or more chlorophyll is needed, but only breed where day length or
light intensity are right for them.
- In dry climates, water is rare therefore so are the numbers of plants and
animals.
- Oxygen is needed for organisms underwater; some invertebrates such as
jellyfish can survive in these conditions but need dissolved oxygen.
Carbon dioxide is also important, mosquitos for example feed on animals
with high CO2 levels and plants are more vulnerable to insect attacks
because of this.
Term

Description

Environme
nt

All the conditions that surround a living organism

Habitat

The place where an organism lives

Population

All the members of a single species that live in a habitat

Communit
y

All the populations of different organisms that live together in a

habitat

Ecosystem

A community and the habitat in which it lives

 Qualitative data must be collected to find the distribution of plants and

animals by random sampling of quadrats and sampling along a transect.
- Quadrant is made out of metal wires and it usually half a meter x half a
metre. This is split into smaller squares of
numbers of 25 or 100. This is used to identify and
count plants. Same size & sampling many areas
enables validity and reproducibility. This should be
done at random (close your eyes, spin in any
direction, walk 10 paces and drop quadrant). This
allows a true representation to be shown as
results are not biased and fiddled with.
- Transects are not random, you stretch a tape between two points and
sample all the different organisms in that line. This is used to measure
physical factors such as light, soil PH etc. that affects the growth of plants.
- After this, data must be analysed, this must be done by calculating the
mean, mode and median.