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Nearly all plants photosynthesize. It is how they get energy to survive, since they don't have mouths to eat food. Even carnivorous plants (pitcher plant, venus fly trap) photosynthesize because what they eat gives them nutrients like protein but not much energy. The one rare exception are parasitic plants. Parasitic plants don't have regular roots - they stick roots into other plants and steal nutrients from those plants. Even then, most parasites photosynthesize themselves and mostly steal nutrients. There are some, however, that don't photosynthesize at all -- often parasites on roots that live underground. I've seen "Ghost pipe" in Michigan so it is probably in Ohio, too, as well as a few others. These can be recognized as full parasites because they have no green parts (occasionally you'll see red/purple or yellow parts that can photosynthesize in some plants, but photosynthesis is almost always green and never white). https://www.botany.org/Parasitic_Plants/
One little diversion - this is a video of a parasitic plant that does photosynthesize, but is interesting anyway. Did you know that mistletoe (like christmas mistletoe) is a parasite on other plants? And that it has seeds that are really sticky so a bird has to wipe them off its butt after eating them, which is what gets them dispersed to new branches to grow on? Weird, huh? Tell your family that at Christmas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQnaIZtbv18
For my favorite plant, I'll tell you what I told Nathan when he asked the same question: I'm not sure I have a favorite.... Maybe the sundews because they're so weird, or columbines for their unusual flowers. Actually, I think my favorites are anything in the Ericaceae family like azaleas, rhododendron and especially Mountain Laurel. Mountain Laurels have pretty color on the wood and bark, they grow in lots of beautiful places, but rarely in ugly places, and have really curious flowers. The flowers are pretty white clusters with spots on them. When a bee lands to drink some nectar -- THWACK an anther flies forward and slams a sticky bit of pollen on the bee's back.
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Like so many of the mentors I'm lucky to work with this session, Jeff has gone above and beyond asking and answering questions with his team, but involves them in topics the kids find it easy to get passionate and curious about. This school group LOVES weird plants! His links and details about carnivorous and non-photosynthesizing and parasitic plants I think will really open the students minds beyond just this photosynthesis project (while still being helpful and on topic!)
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Preparing for the
24-25 School Year?
Teachers! If you're thinking of bringing PlantingScience mentoring into your classroom during the 24-25 school year, applications are now open for BOTH sessions!
To apply, log in to your PlantingScience account and locate the application link under 'Resources'. For more information, check out 'Join as a Teacher' above!
Scientists, this is a great time to update your availability and consider adding Investigation Themes to your preferences. If you are new to PlantingScience, check out 'Join as a Mentor'.
We're looking forward to working with you! Please contact us if you have any questions.
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Scientist Mentors Needed!
As we grow and continue to pursue our F2 research, we are sending out this appeal to our Scientist community: please spread the word and invite your students, colleagues, and friends to sign up and mentor with us! Mentors range from late undergraduate students to emeritus scientists. Feel free to download our mentor flyer and post it in your institution to encourage others to join us, too!
Testimonials
“I liked that we didn’t know what was going to happen before we did the experiment. Instead of being taught something and then just doing an experiment to prove it, we made an attempt to find out what would happen ourselves.”
- PlantingScience Student
“At every opportunity, all involved kept reminding my students of the process that real science requires. This helped me to convince my students that they are really doing science - not just play acting until some future date.”
- PlantingScience Teacher
“It is a lot of fun interacting with students from an age group I don’t have the chance to spend a lot of time with. It is a good reminder of where public knowledge of plant science stands, and a great opportunity for me to practice explaining key concepts in a simple and straightforward way.”
- PlantingScience Mentor