A Comparision of Nutrition in Plants and Animals.

by kartikayguptalivecouk (student)

Comparison of nutrition is plants and animals

Plants and animals both need nutrition to survive being different species they have a lot of differences in their nutrition intake and how they break it down. However, plants and animals do have similarities such as nutrients they need.

Firstly, plants make their own glucose, which is a form of energy, via the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis converts carbon dioxide, water into glucose and oxygen in the presence of sunlight. Plants get carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and it is diffused into the leaf through the small holes in the underside of the leaf called the stomata. The water is absorbed through active transport by the root hair cells. Sunlight is absorbed by the layer of palisade cells which absorb sunlight and have a lot of chloroplasts. The chloroplasts carry out the photosynthesis because they have chlorophyll which absorbs the sunlight and allows it to be used. Plants also need minerals and nutrients too such as magnesium and potassium. On the other hand, animals have different dietary requirements as they require seven essential things including carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, water, fibre, fat and protein. This means that they do not need carbon dioxide and sunlight for their energy but water, oxygen and those seven nutrients for respiration. Animals get their oxygen by breathing it in from the atmosphere and then it is transported around the body. Also, animals get their water and nutrients by eating food and drinking water and taking its nutrients. This is much different to plants as they generate their own energy while animals eat other living things for energy. Also, animals must eat different types of things to achieve the nutrients that are needed for a balanced diet and this requires more time while plants only need a set of things to make their energy and be healthy. Furthermore, animals have to digest their food to extract the nutrients while the plants get their energy directly from photosynthesis.

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Furthermore, plants and animals have different adaptations to get their energy. Photosynthesis in plants requires pretty much all of the parts of the plants as mentioned above and as well as that the spongy mesophyll layer which allows carbon dioxide to diffuse through the leaf; and the xylem and phloem carry sugar plus water around the plant. Each part of the plant has its own job to play in getting plants the energy. The chloroplasts in the palisade layer are right at the top so they can get a lot of sun. The cuticle is transparent to allow sunlight to pass while protecting the plant. The chlorophyll contains magnesium to give it the leaf a green shade allowing it to capture light. Additionally, the mesophyll layer is very thin because this allows the gases to diffuse very quickly. The leaf has a very large surface area to volume ratio hence it can allow photosynthesis to occur quicker. On the other hand, nutrition in animals is only dealt by the digestive system which involves the mouth, oesophagus, liver, stomach, pancreas, small intestine, large intestine, rectum and anus. This shows that most of the body is not actually used during when animals consume food. While breathing only the respiratory system is used which mainly involves the lungs, not the whole body therefore, being so different to plants which use all of their different parts to gain energy. These systems in the animals have very specific uses and they struggle to function without one another. If one organ gets damaged it has to be replaced but with a plant if a leaf dies there are more or the plant can grow more. The animal systems are adapted as the lungs have a large surface area and lots of alveoli to allow gas exchange to occur much faster. The digestive system has its own adaptations such as the fact that the pancreas, gall bladder, liver release things to help break down food in the body. The intestines are there to absorb as many nutrients and hence they are very long. Animals are also adapted to be camouflaged as they must hunt their prey for energy and hence must stay hidden. Moreover, after photosynthesis the plants store their glucose in the form of starch because it is insoluble and it’s compact. However, animals store their glucose in monosaccharaides after the enzymes have broken the glucose down. Also, animals break down the protein and fats into amino acids, fatty acids and glycerol. This is different to plants as the plants keep protein as it is and is not stored as anything different to what it already is.

Overall plants and animals do have a lot of similarities however; they have very obvious differences which set them apart from each other and their ways of nutrition. The nutrition is also treated differently as animals break it into much smaller things while plants keep it in its basic for except glucose.