Journal entry

For my journal entry I chose to sit outside at on a bench in a park in an area near my house. 

As I observed the ecosystem around me I snapped photos, and here they are!

These trees are angiosperms, they are producers.

This tree is a gymnosperm, it is a producer

These trees are also gymnosperms and producers.

This is a tree stump, and grass. 

This is a patch of moss on the ground.

This is a pine cone beside the bench. Pine cones come form gymnosperms.

If you look far in the background you can see a patch of ferns. Ferns are producers.

This is a robin, robins are part of the animal kingdom and are consumers

This is another pine cone on the ground beside my foot

The little circle in the grass is a Fungi fruiting body called a mushroom.  Mushrooms are decomposers.

This is a close up version of the mushroom. 

This is a picture of a spider. Spiders are part of the animal kingdom, and are arthropods.  They are consumers.

Ferns

What characteristics unify ferns?

Ferns thrive in wet and seasonally wet environments like tropical rainforests. Ferns have specialized tissues called vascular tissues. These tissues transport water and products of photosynthesis throughout the plant. Ferns have true roots, stems called rhizomes, and large leaves called fronds.

Spores are produced in the Sporangia. When the spores are ripe, they are released. 

The diploid Sporophyte is the dominant obvious stage. The haploid Gametophyte is tiny and only lives for a short time.

What features do ferns have that have enabled adaptation to a land environment? 

Ferns have true roots and vascular tissue that allows water to move farther through the plant. They don't depend on absorption of water held in the plant.  In ferns the vascular system is well developed, enabling it to live in drier conditions. Fern fronds leaves are a modification for more efficient photosynthesis

Kingdom Plantae

What is a plant?

A plant is a photosynthetic, eukaryotic, multicellular organism part of the kingdom Plantae. Plants typically have walls containing cellulose, lack of mobility and have  alternation of generations in their life cycles. The kingdom Plante is made up of many magnificent living organisms. Fungi, bacteria, and blue-green algae are often thought to be part of this kingdom but are actually parts of the other five kingdoms.

Phylum Magnoliophyta (Flowering plants),   Phylum Filicinophyta  (Ferns), Phylum Bryophyta (Mosses)