Kingdom Plantae Simple Plants and Gymnosperms

Kingdom Plantae Simple Plants and Gymnosperms

This document is not meant to be a substitute for a formal laboratory report. The Lab Report

Assistant is simply a summary of the experiment’s questions, diagrams if needed, and data

tables that should be addressed in a formal lab report. The intent is to facilitate students’

writing of lab reports by providing this information in an editable file which can be sent to an

instructor. Exercise 1: Comparison of Plants

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 Vasculature 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

Data Table 3. Moss Structure.

Plant Part

Gametophyte

Sporangium

Sporophyte

Rhizoid

Leaf-like Structure

Antheridium

Archegonium Description Data Table 4. Moss Structure Images.

Plant Part Structure

(Viewed with Hand Lens) Structure

(Viewed with Microscope) Gametophyte Sporangium Sporophyte Rhizoid Leaf-like

Structure

Antheridium Archegonium 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. When you viewed the leaf-like structures under the microscope, did you see evidence of

vascularization? Describe what you observed.

C. Moss has a great number of leaf-like structures over a small area. How does this

arrangement assist the leaves in interacting with their environment? D. Why are rhizoids not considered true roots?

E. Where is the sperm housed? Where are the eggs housed? What conditions must exist for

the sperm to reach the egg?

F. Compare and contrast the view of anatomical features with the magnifying hand lens and

the microscope. Where you able to identify more structures with the magnifying hand lens

or the microscope? Was the level of detail you observed greater with the magnifying hand

lens or the microscope? Exercise 3: Advanced Plant Adaptations

Data Table 5. Cone and Strobili Size.

Plant name: 1 2 3 4 5 Average Cone

Strobilus 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 does the union of the egg and sperm occur? How does sperm reach the

egg? C. Describe the structure and shape of the conifer needle. What is the role of the conifer

needle? How does its structure help conserve water?

D. What purpose do the root hairs serve? What purpose does the tap root serve? 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?