Jackie Scanlon: Post number five

Leaves, we see them every day, and we take for granted what they do for us. Plants help to make our very existence possible; through the process of photosynthesis they create oxygen as a waste product.

We have a special relationship with leaves, we exhale carbon dioxide through breathing and in turn we take in oxygen. One may ask what the relationship is. A leaf is an organ of a plant specifically used for photosynthesis. In the process of photosynthesis leaves take in carbon dioxide and convert it to oxygen among other products that are a waste of photosynthesis.

Basic types of leaves are Conifers, Angiosperm. Each of these is important parts of the Plant Kingdom. Conifers are cone-bearing plants that have seeds. There are a wide range of these, most of which are trees but some are shrubs. Angiosperm are similar to Conifers in the way that are seed-bearing, however they are flowering plants.

I focused my Leaf Project on leaves from my hometown of Ishpeming. The plants I collected came from mainly three different Phylum. These Phylum included Gnetophyta, Anthophyta, and Coniferophyta. Gnetophyta are flowering plants (gymnosperms), Anthophyta are flowering plants that produce seeds, and Coniferophyta are cone bearing gymnosperms.

I collected the following leaves:

· Yellow Birch

· Black Willow

· Hawthorn Tree

· Pin Cherry

· Apple

· Black Cherry

· Choke Cherry

· Sugar Plum

· White Birch

· Red Ash

· Jack Pine

· Northern Red Oak

· Sugar Maple

· Balsam

When identifying leaves you look at the shape, color, and stem to determine what leave it is. You also need to consider the location when trying to identify leaves. Some leaves have large pointy tips or have three points at the top. For example the Pin Cherry is a small green leaf that has a pointy tip. The leave has small jagged edges.

Out of our two laboratory projects I enjoyed the leave project the most. It was easier identifying leaves than insects. It was interesting to learn about each leaf and see what some are used for and where they are native too.

Picture: http://blogs.targetx.com/hbu/DawgTracks/2009/10/fall_foliage.html

2 comments:

Alissa Kaye said...: Out of all of your posts, I could most easily relate to this one. When I was in the eighth grade, I had to do a project on leaves. We had to collect at least thirty-five different kinds though. I was a major part of our first marking period of school. Today, I can still pretty easily identify many of the leaves I collected back then.
I really love the picture you used at the start of your post. Fall is probably my favorite time of year because of all the beautiful leaf colors. I like how you really related your post to biology and told us about how the plants can usually be easily identified by the leaves. When I did my collection, I found certain leaves, and knew exactly what they were based on color and style of leaf. This post was good and made me think back to my middle school days. Great job!; December 1, 2010 at 9:21 PM
Mike said...: One thing you forgot to mention when i dentifying the types of leaves is you have to consider looking at the bark and the types of seeds. This could also be the color of the cherry in this case since you mentioned the pin cherry. I did however enjoy this post as it gives good details about what a leaf is and what it does for us and the plant itself.

I found this project to be kind of interesting as well. I can't remember if i did it in grade school or not but i feel like i have learned a few more details and kinds of tree's than i had known previously. I think that it has helped us all understand a little more and appreciate tree's maybe a little bit more than we did in the past.; December 3, 2010 at 5:58 AM

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Post number five

2 comments: