BIO 2 EXAM 2 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Describe the reasons why plants are important on Earth. - Answers- •Provide food for
herbivores (=plant eaters)
•Provide oxygen for breathing organisms and which also protects organisms from UV
light (oxygen converts into ozone in the atmosphere, which acts as a filter for harmful
UV rays)
•Aquatic plants detoxify fresh water lakes and streams
•Provide shelter for animals
•Provide medicines and products for humans
•Have aesthetic value (=are pleasing to look at)
•Plants help create and maintain soil
•Dead plant material is decomposed by fungi, prokaryotes, and other decomposers
•Decomposed plant tissue becomes part of the soil, making it more fertile
•Roots of living plants help hold soil together, preventing erosion by wind and water
How do plants reproduce asexually? - Answers- Plant sends out runners that can grow
into adult plants.
Fallen stems can develop roots and grow into new, identical plants.
Others shoot out stems from the base or underground and they'll begin to grow once the
original plant has died
Describe five characteristics that all plants have. - Answers- •Classified into Kingdom
Plantae
•Are sessile (cannot move)
•Evolved from green algae
•Evolved a waxy cuticle on stems and leaves that prevents water loss and therefore
allowed them to grow on land without drying out
•some species evolved internal vascular tissues to help move water and nutrients
around the plant
•Produce their own food (carbohydrates) using sunlight as energy for photosynthesis
•reproduce using spores and/ or seeds
•can reproduce sexually (sperm meet egg) or asexually (plant sends out runners that
can grown into adult plants)
•Plant cell walls/vascular tissues contain the polysaccharides cellulose and lignin and
the cells contain the green pigment chlorophyll
What are the two major groups of plants and what characteristics distinguishes them? -
Answers- Non-vascular plants (bryophytes)
Vascular plants (tracheophytes)
Give two examples of bryophytes. Are they vascular or non-vascular? - Answers- Non-
vascular.
Mosses, liverworts, hornworts.
, How does the reproduction of ferns and mosses differ from that of plants that reproduce
using seeds? - Answers- The sperm has to swim to the egg retained by the
gametophyte in mosses and ferns.
What are seeds and how are they dispersed? (List 2 ways) - Answers- Seeds are
embryonic plants surrounded by nutritive tissue and a protective coat. Seeds can be
dispersed by wind, water, sticking to animals, or by being eaten by an animal and then
dropped off somewhere else in their waste.
How is pollen formed and dispersed? - Answers- 1. Microspore mother cell (MMC)
develops within pollen sacs.
2. MMC forms 4 haploid microspores via meiosis.
3. Each microspore divides mitotically to form immature pollen grain
4. Generative cell divides mitotically to form 2 sperm cells, creating a mature pollen
grain.
Wind, water, animal can disperse pollen.
Describe how the embryo sac is formed. - Answers- 1. MMC develops within ovule.
2. MMC divides meiotically to form 4 haploid megaspores.
3. 3 die
4. The fourth megaspore divides three times mitotically to form 8 nuclei within a single
cell.
5. Cytokinesis forms seven separate cells (=embryo sac); one of the seven cells is the
egg.
What is the function of shoot system? - Answers- 1. Collecting light
2. Photosynthesis
3. Reproduction
4. Nutrient transport
What is the function of the root system? - Answers- 1. Water and nutrient acquisition
2. Anchorage
3. Starch storage
Describe two different symbiotic relationships that roots form with other organisms. -
Answers- Fungal mycorrhizae help plants acquire nutrients by releasing enzymes that
help to weather rocks to make minerals available
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria in root nodules convert soil nitrogen into a form which plants
can use (ammonium or nitrate)
Examples: Legumes such as peas and beans.
Describe the process of transpiration. - Answers- 1. Water enters the vascular cylinder
of root.
Describe the reasons why plants are important on Earth. - Answers- •Provide food for
herbivores (=plant eaters)
•Provide oxygen for breathing organisms and which also protects organisms from UV
light (oxygen converts into ozone in the atmosphere, which acts as a filter for harmful
UV rays)
•Aquatic plants detoxify fresh water lakes and streams
•Provide shelter for animals
•Provide medicines and products for humans
•Have aesthetic value (=are pleasing to look at)
•Plants help create and maintain soil
•Dead plant material is decomposed by fungi, prokaryotes, and other decomposers
•Decomposed plant tissue becomes part of the soil, making it more fertile
•Roots of living plants help hold soil together, preventing erosion by wind and water
How do plants reproduce asexually? - Answers- Plant sends out runners that can grow
into adult plants.
Fallen stems can develop roots and grow into new, identical plants.
Others shoot out stems from the base or underground and they'll begin to grow once the
original plant has died
Describe five characteristics that all plants have. - Answers- •Classified into Kingdom
Plantae
•Are sessile (cannot move)
•Evolved from green algae
•Evolved a waxy cuticle on stems and leaves that prevents water loss and therefore
allowed them to grow on land without drying out
•some species evolved internal vascular tissues to help move water and nutrients
around the plant
•Produce their own food (carbohydrates) using sunlight as energy for photosynthesis
•reproduce using spores and/ or seeds
•can reproduce sexually (sperm meet egg) or asexually (plant sends out runners that
can grown into adult plants)
•Plant cell walls/vascular tissues contain the polysaccharides cellulose and lignin and
the cells contain the green pigment chlorophyll
What are the two major groups of plants and what characteristics distinguishes them? -
Answers- Non-vascular plants (bryophytes)
Vascular plants (tracheophytes)
Give two examples of bryophytes. Are they vascular or non-vascular? - Answers- Non-
vascular.
Mosses, liverworts, hornworts.
, How does the reproduction of ferns and mosses differ from that of plants that reproduce
using seeds? - Answers- The sperm has to swim to the egg retained by the
gametophyte in mosses and ferns.
What are seeds and how are they dispersed? (List 2 ways) - Answers- Seeds are
embryonic plants surrounded by nutritive tissue and a protective coat. Seeds can be
dispersed by wind, water, sticking to animals, or by being eaten by an animal and then
dropped off somewhere else in their waste.
How is pollen formed and dispersed? - Answers- 1. Microspore mother cell (MMC)
develops within pollen sacs.
2. MMC forms 4 haploid microspores via meiosis.
3. Each microspore divides mitotically to form immature pollen grain
4. Generative cell divides mitotically to form 2 sperm cells, creating a mature pollen
grain.
Wind, water, animal can disperse pollen.
Describe how the embryo sac is formed. - Answers- 1. MMC develops within ovule.
2. MMC divides meiotically to form 4 haploid megaspores.
3. 3 die
4. The fourth megaspore divides three times mitotically to form 8 nuclei within a single
cell.
5. Cytokinesis forms seven separate cells (=embryo sac); one of the seven cells is the
egg.
What is the function of shoot system? - Answers- 1. Collecting light
2. Photosynthesis
3. Reproduction
4. Nutrient transport
What is the function of the root system? - Answers- 1. Water and nutrient acquisition
2. Anchorage
3. Starch storage
Describe two different symbiotic relationships that roots form with other organisms. -
Answers- Fungal mycorrhizae help plants acquire nutrients by releasing enzymes that
help to weather rocks to make minerals available
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria in root nodules convert soil nitrogen into a form which plants
can use (ammonium or nitrate)
Examples: Legumes such as peas and beans.
Describe the process of transpiration. - Answers- 1. Water enters the vascular cylinder
of root.
