Science Case

Plant DBQ

By Kelly Zhang

Period 7

March 20, 2013

Everything we do in our daily lives involves the use of our brain. The Seedy Side of plants can sometimes be monstrous, manipulating the animals rather than the animals manipulating them. But they don't have brains...or do they? The Seedy Side of Plants is the behavior of certain types of plants when they have to adapt to the environment, when they need to drop their seeds, and when they need to feed off the soil or even other plants and animals. Some plants can manipulate animals by producing delicious fruits that have seeds in them. The plant's plot is to have the animal eat the fruit and when it produces waste, the seeds would be tucked into it and it would help fertilize the seed. Some animals like birds carry the seeds to other places and drop it into the soil, therefore helping the seed reproduce. The Seedy Side of Plants is the behavioral changes that the plants go through in order to survive the climate and the obstacles in its environment. Plants are crucial to our lives because they provide us with the air we breathe and the food we eat. The animals we eat feed off of the plants and the vegetables we need to stay healthy are also plants. The technology has showed us what types of plants are not safe to eat, what are endangered, threatened, or extinct. We are also able to learn more about the plants that are extinct and what animals had feed on them and how they had become extinct.

The life of a plant begins with a tiny seeds that blossoms into a gigantic apple tree. Humans have the tendency to compete one another in everything, like sports or academics. Plants also have the tendency towards this nature. Apples compete with rivals in the same crate at the supermarket to catch our eye. And when you are on a car ride and throw away the apple after you're done eating, the apple slowly begins to rot. Then the seed is left alone in the naked soil. The appleseed is most beneficial of this journey because the seed can reproduce and develop into another apple tree. If you think about it, almost every corner in the world is invaded by plants of all sorts and styles. Take the plum for example. When plums fall from its tree, a bird and its family eat the plums on the ground. The plum takes seventy-two hours to digest and the seed or kernel in the middle is not digestible. The birds then poop out the seeds and the poop fertilizes the plum seed. If it is in the right conditions, then it will grow into a new plum tree. Every seed need energy to sprout its first roots, which is crucial to the plant's survival. Every seed also have the chance of being attacked and eaten by other organisms. The acorn tree has lived a hundred years, producing many acorns each year. But of the acorns produced, only one or two develop into a tree. The acorns are constantly being attacked by the squirrels that run everywhere in our backyards. If the trees stopped growing and the plants stopped sprouting, would we still be alive? No, most likely not because we would not be able to breathe as freely as we wish. Secondly, where would we get the energy we need? If the plants suddenly vanish, then it causes a domino effect. The animals would die because they wouldn't have an energy source anymore. We would follow them and die too because our source of food, both plant and animal, have become extinct. Without plants, our world would be a sphere of carbon dioxide, with no life on Earth.

The relationship between plants and animals is a very fine line, very fragile. The plants are ruthless about immortality. They will do everything to stay alive. For example, blackberries have three many stages of colors. The first color, bright red, means that the blackberry is not ready to eat so come back later! The second shade, dark red, demonstrates that it is almost ready to eat but it's not completely ready. And finally, the last stage, a dark or black color, demonstrates that you better come quick or these berries will soon be eaten! Plants like this are not quite manipulative as some of the more aggressive ones. Another example is the melon plant. The melon plant has a water sac filled with seeds. This plant fastens itself to its surroundings. When a female melon plant is fertilized,