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Science 5: Role and Function of Stomata 30 Views


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Description:

Stomata with you? Oh, you don't know what a stomata is. Well, make like a tree and stay put. We've got you covered.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:05

[Dino and Coop singing]

00:13

Take away Alvin from Simon and Theodore, and well, you don't really have the Chipmunks do you? [The characters from the Chipmunks film turn into normal chipmunks]

00:18

Cut Snap from Crackle and Pop and that's just plain weird. [Guy looks confused]

00:22

And don't get us started on how bizarre it would be to have Ron and Harry without Hermione. [Hermione is taken away by a dragon]

00:26

They probably would've both been dead by the end of the first book. [Harry and Ron running around scared]

00:30

The truth is, when you have the trio that works, things get a bit strange when you remove one

00:34

piece of the puzzle. [A piece of a jigsaw is taken out and it falls to pieces]

00:36

And the same can be said for the trio involved in the process of photosynthesis.

00:41

So who are the big stars of this trio?

00:44

That'd be carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight.

00:47

Take away carbon dioxide and the whole thing falls apart. [The other components of photosynthesis fall when carbon dioxide is taken away]

00:50

Simply put, plants need to let carbon dioxide into their leaves in order to complete photosynthesis.

00:57

In order to do this, some plants have openings on their leaves that allow air to enter. [Air going into the opening]

01:02

These openings are called “stomata,” which are tiny little structures found on the skin

01:06

or epidermis of a plant.

01:08

They serve to regulate airflow. Think of a stoma like a tiny little mouth on the leaf of

01:13

a plant, which is actually sort of what it looks like. [A mouth drawn on the leaf]

01:16

Okay, they don't look that much like mouths. That would be some kind of creepy, nightmare-fueled beast. [Plant covered in tiny mouths]

01:22

Luckily for us, we can't actually see the stomata. They're pretty tiny. [People screaming at a leaf]

01:26

And they also don't look as nightmareish, so sleep easy tonight, Shmoopers.

01:31

They open and close depending on their environmental conditions. For instance, in desert plants, [Cactus covered in stomata 'mouths']

01:36

stomata only open up at night so that they don't lose too much water under the hot sun

01:40

during the day. Since the regulation of water and carbon dioxide

01:44

is so important to photosynthesis and the life of a plant – the job isn't just left

01:48

up to the stomata.

01:50

That would be a lot of responsibility to handle, and since the stomata can't take a relaxing [The stomata meditating]

01:55

yoga class to unwind, they have special guard cells to help them out. [The smomata is stressed out and sweating]

01:59

These guard cells surround each stomata.

02:01

They're kind of like little muscles that clench up when they want the stomata to be closed and

02:05

relax when it's time to open. Their job is to make sure the stoma is open and closed

02:09

at exactly the right times. [Two guard cells in police costume]

02:11

They're basically a bunch of tough but slightly bone-headed bodyguards that back up every

02:15

single decision the stomata makes. Pretty sweet deal, huh?

02:19

We wouldn't mind a couple of those guys around when we're trying to convince our parents

02:23

to order pizza for dinner… [Guard cell shows up to convince the parents]

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