Ask a Scientist: How do plants grow?
Meet the student asking the question:
Name: Ava Ferline
School: Johnson City Intermediate School, Johnson City Central School District
Teacher: Mrs. Swartz
Hobbies: Playing with friends, playing video games, reading, walking my dog
Career interest: Work with animals
Meet the scientist:
Answered by: Robert Lawrence
Title: Research Development Specialist, Division of Research, Binghamton University
Research area: Scientific collaboration and research strategies, biochemistry
Interests/hobbies: Hiking, sports, writing, being a dad
How do plants grow?
There are more than 300,000 different kinds of plants, including plants that live in the ocean, like kelp; and plants that live in the desert, like cactuses. There are microscopic plants, like algae; and gigantic plants that can be very old, like redwood trees. But no matter what, all plants need the same four things to grow: water, air, sunlight and nutrients.
Water is necessary for the growth of all living things, including plants. Most plants use their roots to get water from the soil, but some can use their leaves get water.
Plants also need air to breathe like we do, but they do it very differently. The air around us is a mixture of different molecules that have names like oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Humans and animals breathe in the oxygen, and breathe out carbon dioxide. Plants do the opposite. During the daytime, they breathe in the carbon dioxide, and breathe out oxygen.
As you probably know, photosynthesis is the name for how plants get their energy from sunlight. This is something that humans and animals can’t do. Instead, we need to get all our energy from the food that we eat. Photosynthesis is a very complicated process that involves many molecules inside plant leaves that work together like gears in a clock.
During photosynthesis, plants take the water from the soil, and the carbon dioxide from the air, and they make sugars out of it. They use those sugars as food, along with other nutrients that they usually get from the soil. Those nutrients are molecules made up of nitrogen, phosphorus and other elements. Sometimes we call the nutrients “fertilizers.”
All living things are made of cells. Cells are much larger than molecules, but you still need a microscope to see them. In plants, the cells are like millions and millions of tiny compartments stuck together, like Legos. When plants have the right balance of water, air, sunlight and nutrients, their cells grow and divide, and the whole plant gets bigger and bigger. And that’s how plants grow.
Ava, if you would like to see all kinds of different plants and learn more about how they grow, you can come visit the E.W. Heier Teaching Greenhouse at Binghamton University. Just call 607-777-2502, and they can help you set up a tour!
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