Plant transport lessons

Two lessons to guide pupils to understand the transport of different substances through plants including transpiration in the xylem and translocation in the phloem.

These lessons are designed for teaching the Edexcel Combined Science GCSE content although they are also appropriate for higher level KS3 groups in preparation for their GCSE Science. The lessons are designed in such a way that they are highly structured and can be easily taught by non-specialists.

These two lessons are based around the Edexcel Combined Science (Biology) specification and the specification points that are covered are listed below:

B1.15 Explain how substances are transported into and out of cells, including by diffusion, osmosis and active transport

B6.7 Explain how the structure of the root hair cells is adapted to absorb water and mineral ions

B6.8 Explain how the structures of the xylem and phloem are adapted to their function in the plant, including:

• Lignified dead cells in xylem transporting water and minerals through the plant
• Living cells in phloem using energy to transport sucrose around the plant

B6.9 Describe how water and mineral ions are transported through the plant by transpiration…

B6.10 Describe how sucrose is transported around the plant by translocation