Lesson 1
Big, roomy storage cells
Storage parenchyma cells are plump, roundish cells with thin walls. They are alive, and they have lots of room inside.
You can find them in potatoes, carrots, and other roots, and inside seeds like beans, corn, and sunflower seeds.
They fill up with food the plant does not need right now:
- Starch grains (in potatoes, rice, and corn)
- Tiny drops of oil (in sunflower and peanut seeds)
- Little packs of protein (in beans and peas)
Try thisScroll up to the 3D model and press Pack the pantry to fill the cell with starch grains.
Lesson 2
Food for later
Leaves make sugar from sunlight. The plant turns extra sugar into starch and sends it to storage cells. Later, when the plant needs energy to grow a new sprout or survive winter, it turns the starch back into sugar.
A seed uses its stored food to grow a baby plant before it has any leaves of its own.
Wow!A lot of the food people eat, like potatoes, rice, bread, beans, and peanuts, is food that plants packed away in storage cells for themselves!
Ask a grown-up to cut a raw potato. Rub the cut side on a dark plate. The white, chalky smudge is mostly starch from the storage cells.