Rocket holds up a potato. "This is a root, right? It grows underground."
Raven turns it over. "What do you notice? Look at these little eyes."
Nova blinks her lights. "Roots never have eyes like that," she says. "What part does?"
Rocket scratches his head. "Wait. Could a potato be a stem?"
Stems hold a plant up.
Stems lift the leaves up toward the light they need.
Stems carry water and nutrients from the roots up to the leaves.
Stems also carry food made in the leaves to other parts of the plant.
Inside a stem are bundles of tiny tubes.
Xylem tubes move water up from the roots.
Phloem tubes move food around the plant.
A tree trunk is a big, woody stem.
A potato grows underground, but it is not a root.
A potato is a tuber. A tuber is a swollen underground stem that stores food.
How can we tell? Stems have nodes, and roots do not.
The eyes on a potato are its nodes. New shoots can grow from them.
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| Stems lift leaves toward light. | ? |
| Xylem tubes move water up a stem. | ? |
| A potato is a root. | ? |
| A tree trunk is a stem. | ? |
Bean window check: look for a root poking out of a bean.
Has a shoot started yet? Shoots usually come after the root.
Stem stars! Tomorrow we visit the leaves, the plant's food makers.