Plant Adaptations
How Do Plants Adapt?
Word of the Week
Buttress
A buttress is a large, above-ground root that stabilizes some species of large trees. Only certain tree species grow buttresses, most of which have shallow roots that could otherwise cause the tree to fall over!
Species Spotlight
Pitcher Plants
It can be a hard life for a plant in the rainforest when there are so many other plants to compete with! When leaves, fruit, and other matter fall to the forest floor, they decompose and add nutrients to the top layer of the soil. So many plants compete for those nutrients that some plants have developed other ways to get nutrients. Pitcher plants are carnivores, which is quite odd for a plant! The leaves of pitcher plants are shaped like a deep bucket and produce sweet-smelling nectar that attracts small animals like flies, wasps, and beetles. When the small animals go in the pitcher following the smell, they can get trapped and “digested” by the leaf! Pitcher plants use the digested animals as extra nutrients. There are many species of pitcher plants, like the purple pitcher plant, California pitcher plant, and yellow pitcher plant, that have mastered the ability to collect nutrients from "eating" small animals!
Conservation Corner
Plant Waste
Whether you're hard at work in the garden or relaxing in the house, you are probably closer to plant matter than you think! The apples in your fridge, the bread on your counter, the paper in your notebook, all were once part of a plant. Your apples grew on trees, the bread was once wheat, and the paper in your notebook was a strong, sturdy tree.
Unlike plastic, all of these items are decomposable, meaning they can break down and return nutrients to Earth overtime! When we put these items in plastic garbage bags and send them to the landfill, they become trapped, cannot return to the Earth, and releases harmful emissions into the atmosphere.
You can help these plant-based items return to the Earth by composting! By collecting and composting your plant waste, you are reducing the amount of waste the goes to the landfill, reducing harmful emissions, and adding nutrients back into the Earth all in one.

BRAIN BLAST
Keep track of every compostable item you use today! Your paper, non-meat food scraps, paper towels, napkins, and many other everyday items can be returned to the Earth.
PS. This may help with this unit's challenge activity.
Plant Problems
For each plant adaptation below, determine what kind of conditions we would find that trait!
Plant Adaptations Challenge
Building a Compost
Many plants have developed adaptations that help them survive in environments that have very little nutrients in the soil. Most plants absorb nutrients through their roots, so having healthy soil allows most plants to thrive. Did you know that you have the power to add nutrients to the soil right where you live? Well, it's true!
You can collect leftover food scraps, like apple cores, banana and orange peels, and even avocado pits, and turn them into nutrients for the soil by composting them. For this challenge, you are going to make your own composter! See below for the video with instructions, a list of materials you will need, and a list of items that are safe to compost.
Glossary
Adaptation
The process by which a species becomes more fit for its environment over the course of several generations. It is a result of natural selection.
Behavioral Adaptation
Things organisms do or ways they act that help them survive.
Dormant
A period of time where plant or animal slows their normal functions to conserve energy, nutrients, and other factors.
Climate
Weather conditions in a region over a long period of time.
Greenhouse Gases
Gases in the atmosphere that trap heat from the sun close to the Earth.
Herbivore
An animal that eats primarily plants.
Photosynthesis
The process of plants turning energy from the sun into energy for themselves!
Physical Adaptations
Body parts or other physical parts of a plant or animal that help them survive
Poison
A toxin that is harmful when absorbed through the skin or eaten.
Precipitation
Water that falls to the Earth's surface in liquid form.
Transpiration
The process of water leaving a plant as vapor through tiny holes on the leaves and stems.
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