How Can I Tell my Plant is Alive?

Besides the recent space issues with my plant, it is doing well. I am able to tell it is still living because of multiple characteristics it possesses. For one thing, my plant has shown signs of growth which is evidence of cell division. All living things are made of cells. However more evidence is needed to know if it this is for sure a living thing. Our plant has internal balance, or maintains homeostasis. The plant also obtains materials and energy from the environment, which all living things must do to live. It uses the sun for energy, and water to make food for itself. The nutrients in the air keep our plant alive and growing. Another major sign that our plant is living is reproduction. Our plant reproduces by producing seedlings that get dispersed to other places, usually by wind. The last major sign of life is its response to its environment. Our plant was able to adapt to its living situation (the limited space and sunlight) and continue to grow.

EVIDENCE OF GROWTH (CELL DIVISION)

Our plants started out as a tiny seedling...

It grew large leaves after it was planted in a larger area...

And now it is over a foot tall and thriving in the garden

Living Or Not

The vegetable I have planted in a broccoli. From the time I first planted it, I knew it was alive and well. The first sign was the fact that it was growing a fast rates. Even though anything can grow living or not there was also another hint. To keep it lave I had to continuously water it or the plant would die.  I also knew it was alive because animals were living and eating of my plant, but that is nit the real reason why I know it is alive.  It's because the animals ate my plant they left large holes in it, it could regrow new leaves.  The appearance of my broccoli is changing too. The leaves are huge and the stem is turning purple.  The color of the plant is also getting a dark shade of green.  The down side to my plants' leaves getting is the caterpillars are eating so much of my plant.
As you can see my plant is being devoured by pesky little caterpillars. This is a huge problem because here are so many holes in the leaves it can't get any water.  On the bottom is a picture of the cabbage moth caterpillar.  These are the bugs that eat my plant.  Luckily the broccoli can keep up with them.

Biogeochemicals Cycles and Your plants

In the four weeks since we have planted our plant I have noticed quite a bit of change.  The leaves are starting to get larger and the broccoli is spreading. When we first planted it accidentally snapped one of leaves off, but it has grown back even larger than before.  From this past week I can now describe how my plant plays an important role in the water cycle and the movement of water through the biosphere.  When it rains (precipitation) it gets absorbed into the ground then taken in through the plants roots.  Then is does something which makes my plant important.  It goes through a process called transpiration. Transpiration is when the water that is taken in through the roots is carried back up to the leaves and then is released back into to atmosphere as vapor.  To the left 

photo #1

photo # 2

is an example of a plant going through a process of transpiration. I can relate this to the changes in my plant because I can clearly see that it has grown and for it to do this it must take in water. When it takes in water it then must go through transpiration.  Another thing that my plant participates in it the movement of carbon.  The way a plant starts it of is through photosynthesis.  Photosynthesis happens when a plant takes carbon dioxide and use the suns light energy and turns it into sugars. Then plant eaters like dear or the pestering caterpillars who my broccoli then take in all the nutrients from the plant. When the animal leaves dropping of the plant it releases the carbon back into the air. I can defiantly see how this has effected my plant. Photo #2 is my plant and if you look closely you can se little holes in the leaves. These are left by caterpillars. Because the caterpillars ate my broccoli they are leaving with a lot of carbon. and when they leave waste the carbon will be in it releasing itself back into the atmosphere.  Then is cycle is repeated. Lastly my plant helps out the nitrogen cycle. When an animal leaves waste it contains high amounts of nitrogen.  Then it is absorbed into the ground. Plants take it in for nutrients. A animals eats the plant and the process is repeated.  Like when a caterpillar eats my plant a bird can eat it and when the birds leaves dropping in the soil and my plant absorbs the cycle repeats. I know my plant has been doing this because it would not have grown as successfully if it didn't.                             

                                             

Plant Update & Its Role in the Biogeochemical Cycles

Last Tuesday, our plant was just a tiny seedling, but after a week our broccoli has grown tremendously. Because of all the space in the garden box, the roots were able to expand, allowing the leaves to grow. The leaves are very big, about five inches long, and they are a dark green color with a purple stem. Currently, they have some competition and minor predation. They are competing for space. However, the leaves are gradually being eaten by small caterpillars in the garden box. Besides the small holes in the plant's leaves, our plant is doing well.
The plant becomes part of the water cycle when the roots soak up the water from the soil. They use this water in the process of photosynthesis. It helps make sugars, which plants use for food. After our plant uses as much water as it needs, transpiration takes place. Transpiration is the evaporation of water from the different parts of the plants. The last way our plant participates in the is when it uses the rain water (precipitation) for hydration.
 Our plant also participates in the carbon cycle with the process of photosynthesis. The broccoli takes in the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and uses it to make food and energy for itself; this helps the plant grow. Later, during plant respiration, the plant releases CO2 back into the atmosphere for the cycle to start over.
In the nitrogen cycle, the plant receives nitrogen from the nitrates in the soil and water. After our plant dies, it decays, leaving nitrogen behind in the atmosphere. Our plant's role in the nitrogen cycle relates to the plant's growth because the plant uses the nitrogen and its nutrients to make food for itself, which also helps the plant grow.

An Ecological Analysis Of The Garden And Your Plants

Abiotic and biotic. The two things that make up everything.  Abiotic is something that is not living and  biotic is something that is alive. When discussing something about ecology is usually evolves abiotic and biotic factors.  Some abiotic factors that my plants depends on are rain, sunlight, dirt, wind, the wooden box it is in or the shovel I planted it in. Some biotic factors worms, me, other plants or caterpillars. All of these can affect how my plants ends up. Since my plant is growing it will start to form competition. One of things that it can compete with is other plants. Since all of our plant are in a certain amount of space they will defiantly compete for many things.  Like water, root space, sunlight and the nutrients in the soil.  It is really easy to see who are the winners and the losers. The plants that are greener and larger are usually the winners because they win the competition for food and nutrients.  There are also other types of relations.  One of them is where the caterpillar who usually eats my broccoli plants but this allows birds to easily eat the caterpillars. After they eat them they leave waste in the soil which the plant then takes it in again as food.  When I hear birds chirping, see worms and bugs in the soil and green plants  I know the succession is working because when we first started planting there weren't no plants or animals/bugs and now they are al over the place

Ecological Analysis

The abiotic factors that affect our plant are sunlight, climate/weather, and space. Our plant also is affected by biotic factors. This includes competition, predators and pests. For example, this past week I went our to the garden and found a caterpillar on our plant. I also found evidence of many other bugs eating the leaves. There has also been a kohlrabi plant found in the space where just our plants are supposed to be. This means that our plant will a lot less space than it was supposed to because of the unexpected competition. As for the abiotic factors, it is approaching winter, which means the temperature will drop dramatically, and our plant will have to adapt.

Look at the caterpillar!

I know my plant is engaged in competition because of the kohlrabi plant growing literally right next to our plant. Currently, it is unclear how the kohlrabi seed got to where it is, but it has majorly affected the growth of our plant. Our plant is competing for space and sunlight. Right now the kohlrabi is dominating these categories.

The purple stem is part of the kohlrabi plant, and the green stem is the broccoli

In the struggle of competition, the "winners" and "losers" are chosen by which plants survive. However, sometimes it is hard to determine the winners and losers. Some plants may be able to adapt to the circumstances they are under and survive that way. Even though the plants might not be under the ideal circumstances, they still have the chance to survive. Adaptation is the key aspect in surviving.

Our plants are also in a symbiotic relationship. Unfortunately, it is parasitism. There are some insect in the garden that find our plants food. For instance, the caterpillar mentioned earlier has been found on many plants in the garden, and has been eating away at the leaves of our plant. Our plant does not benefit from this relationship, it only gets hurt.

The garden our plants are in is an example of secondary succession because these gardens were made by people in a "dead" area of campus. Before our plants, there were other plants that were removed after they died. They were moved to make room for our plants. The garden boxes were made in an area that had soil, it just was not the ideal soil for plants, therefore not many plants were growing there until people made a small garden. This rapidly sped up the process of succession, but it still evolved from dirt to a nice garden, now home to many different vegetables from the Brassica oleracea family.

Officially Planted!

This past Tuesday, October 7th, we transferred our baby plants into Willow Glen High School's GOLD Garden on campus. After some leaf breakage during the transfer, we successfully planted the plants. We hope that since we have two healthy broccoli plants in the spacious planting box, we will soon observe some major growth.