Objectives Name
- Describe the differences between nonvascular plants, vascular plants and seed-bearing vascular plants.
- Describe the life cycle of mosses and ferns.
- Look at examples of moss, ferns and gymnosperms and label specified structures.
Reading assignment: Read 17.1 through 17.7: There is also a pdf of this material from Hands On Labs (HOL). This is the first lab that will require your lab paq.
Exercise 1: Comparison of Plants – Instructions in HOL
Data Table 1. Description of Phylogenetic Tree
Number on
Phylogenetic Tree Group Characteristics Example
1 Ancestral green algae (*This is a non-plant) Do not have terrestrial adaptations Charophytes
2
3
4
5
Data Table 2. Comparison of Mosses, Ferns, and Conifers
Plant Dominant Plant Form
(gametophyte or sporophyte) Vasculature
(present or absent) Specialized Structures Water Required for Fertilization Environment
Mosses
Ferns
Conifers
Questions:
A) Describe three characteristics that all members of kingdom Plantae have in common.
B) Identify a characteristic that mosses have in common with ferns, but not with conifers.
C) Identify a characteristic that ferns have in common with conifers, but not with mosses.
D) What characteristic determines whether or not a plant is considered nonvascular?
Exercise 2: Simple Plant Adaptations.
Follow the directions in HOL. Collect moss for observation. You don’t need to let it sit overnight.
Data Table 3. Moss Structure
Plant Part Description
Gametophyte
Sporangium
Sporophyte
Rhizoid
Antheridium
Archegonium
Data Table 4: Moss Structure Images – Photographs of Slides To complete the rest of Data Table 4 find unlabeled photographs on the internet, remembering to include the website it was copied from.
Plant Part Structure (Viewed with Hand Lens)
Gametophyte (upload picture of your moss here)
Capsule (photograph of slide from internet)
Sporophyte
Generation
Rhizoid
(photograph of slide from internet)
Antheridium
(photograph of slide from internet, label sperm)
Archegonium
(photograph of slide from internet, label egg)
Questions:
A) When visualizing moss, a low-lying soft green plant may come to mind. Would this visualization reflect the gametophyte, sporophyte, or rhizoid?
B) Are the cells of the gametophyte haploid or diploid?
C) Where is the sperm housed? Where are the eggs housed? What conditions must exist for the sperm to reach the egg?
Data Table 5 Fern Images – Photographs of Slides.
Find unlabeled photographs of slides of the following structures.
Plant Part Structure (copied from internet)
Fern Gametophyte
(label rhizoid)
Fern
Sporophyte
(may be of a plant instead of a slide)
Sori
(may be of a plant instead of a slide)
D) When visualizing ferns, a medium to tall green plant may come to mind. Would this visualization reflect the gametophyte, sporophyte, or rhizoid?
E) What allows ferns to grow taller than moss?
F) Are the cells of the sporophyte haploid or diploid?
G) For ferns, where is the sperm housed?
Where are the eggs housed?
Are they in the gametophyte or sporophyte?
What conditions must exist for the sperm to reach the egg?
Exercise 3: Advanced Plant Adaptations
Data Table 6 Gymnosperm Images
Find unlabeled photographs of the following structures.
Plant Part Structure
Female pine cone
(upload a picture of your pine cone here)
Male pine cone (strobili)
Questions:
A) Describe the similarities and differences between gymnosperms and angiosperms. Why are conifers classified as gymnosperms and not angiosperms?
B) In a conifer, where is the sperm housed?
C) Where are the eggs housed?
D) In a conifer, where does the union of the egg and sperm occur? How does sperm reach the egg?
E) What is the function of the seed coat? What is the benefit of the stored carbohydrates in the seed?
F) What generation, sporophyte or gametophyte, does the embryo of a seed represent?
Submit the completed worksheet on Blackboard.
Take Lab Quiz 7. This quiz covers the information from sections 17.1 – 17.7 and the background information from HOL.