When you look at the word plants, you might think that there is not much to it. Yet they can be really fascinating and interesting. Unlike humans or animals plants can make there own food! This is another function that all plants have in common. Imagine us producing food in our bodies. Will we have green skin and leaf like hands? One thing is certain though; we won't be functioning and living the same way we do now. Therefore, plants are smarter then we think.

All living cells are composed of proteins. These proteins consist of hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen; which can be used in forming many different chemical combinations. Green plants can produce their own food and oxygen by the process called photosynthesis, which can prevent water loss and is found in the leaf like structures called palisade cells. The leaf of the plant can also store water or grow new leaves. Photosynthesis is a chemical substance formed by carbon dioxide and water otherwise known as carbohydrates. The intake of carbon dioxide and the release of oxygen occurs through the stomata or small pores located on the lower surface of the leaf. The nutrients and water are taken from the soil through root like hairs known as the rhizoid; which are small projections of epidermal cells. The water and minerals pass through the cortex into the stele (the center of the root). These substances are then conducted upward through the tracheids, vessels and stems. The chlorophyll, a green pigment found in the chloroplast, will serve as a catalyst in trapping the solar energy given off from the sun as the form of light. This is because chlorophyll will only form when there is light. In forming glucose (Six atoms of carbon, twelve atoms of hydrogen and six atoms of oxygen) either wise also known as sugar; a chemical reaction occurs. The reaction consists of six molecules of carbon dioxide (one molecule of carbon and two molecules of oxygen) and six molecules of water (two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen). If there was a reduction of hydrogen and oxygen and an increase of a water molecule during the process of glucose. Then many other substances such as starch will be formed. These substances can be stored and used in the future. The plant will release oxygen (six molecules of oxygen each consisting of two atoms) into the atmosphere. However, when the plant needs to use energy, then the six molecules of oxygen will combine with a molecule of glucose immediately. The carbon cycle is once completed when the plants absorb the energy or glucose it has made.

A chemical change on the other molecules of sugar occurs also. Once after the chemical change the molecules will combine with compounds of nitrogen to form amino acids; which can help in the plants in the building of tissues. Amino acids can also help build tissues in animals as well. Proteins can be passed on from one living thing to the next. Yet eventually these proteins will oxidize forming water and carbon dioxide. This is because the cells are being worn out and slowly they are broken down and waste is formed. Fungi and other plants then use these wastes to produce food. These plants will digest and oxidize the substances and release it as energy.

Long time ago erosion, (which is the process where wind, water or ice wearing away the land) and sedimentation, (which is influenced by a force or a gravitational pull in moving fine solid particles in a fluid) had occurred. The erosion and sedimentation protected the tissues of animals and plants. However, as the years passed decomposition occurred and slowly these tissues turned to coal, petroleum and so on. The carbon dioxide, water and light stored in the plants and animals were returned into the atmosphere. Which can then be used in the oxygen cycle again.

Now, what do you think of plant? They aren't just living organisms used for decorations. So the next time you look at a plant don't just look at the colours. Remember the power it holds. It is smarter then we think. Never, ever under estimate a plant.

Sarita Wong