Transport in Plants
Plants move water up through xylem vessels and sugars through phloem tubes, driven by transpiration.
▶ Interact
Play with the controls to see the idea in action.
📘 Learn
Plants move water up through xylem vessels and sugars through phloem tubes, driven by transpiration.
- Xylem carries water and minerals
- Phloem carries sugars
- Transpiration is evaporation from the leaves
🧠 Quick quiz
Three questions. Score 2 or more to complete the topic.
What is Transport in Plants?
Within Biology, which covers cells, the human body, genetics, evolution, plants and ecosystems: the science of living things, this topic explains Transport in Plants. Biology topics show how living things work, from the cell up to whole ecosystems, with models you can explore step by step.
Check that you can explain Transport in Plants in your own words and give one example from everyday life. If you can do that, you have understood the core idea.
Understanding Transport in Plants helps you explain how living things stay alive and respond to their surroundings, which is central to biology exams.
Transport in Plants in detail
Plants have two transport tissues. Xylem carries water and dissolved minerals from the roots to the leaves, in one direction, through dead hollow tubes strengthened with lignin. Phloem carries dissolved sugars (sucrose) made in photosynthesis to all parts of the plant, in both directions, in a process called translocation, using living cells.
Water enters root hair cells by osmosis and is pulled up in a continuous stream, the transpiration stream, as water evaporates from the leaves. Transpiration is faster in hot, dry, windy and bright conditions. Understanding transport shows how plants survive without a heart.
How the interactive helps you understand Transport in Plants
Watch the cycle in the interactive. Use any sliders or buttons it offers to change the values and see how the cycle responds.
Before you change anything, predict the result. Then change one value at a time and check whether your prediction was right. This is a quick way to build a correct mental model of Transport in Plants.
Real-life uses and examples
- Explain how Transport in Plants helps a living thing stay alive, using a plant or animal example.
- Connect Transport in Plants to health, food and medicine in everyday life.
- Use Transport in Plants to interpret a diagram, graph or microscope image from a practical.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Using everyday words, such as “energy” or “bad”, without their scientific meaning.
- Listing the steps of a process without saying how one step causes the next.
- Learning the definition without testing it. Use the quiz and the interactive to check that you can apply the idea.
Frequently asked questions about Transport in Plants
What is Transport in Plants?
Plants move water up through xylem vessels and sugars through phloem tubes, driven by transpiration.
What are the most important points about Transport in Plants?
The main points are: Xylem carries water and minerals; Phloem carries sugars; Transpiration is evaporation from the leaves.
Why is Transport in Plants useful?
Understanding Transport in Plants helps you explain how living things stay alive and respond to their surroundings, which is central to biology exams.
How can I practise Transport in Plants?
Open the interactive at the top of this page and change the controls one at a time. Predict the result before each change, then take the three-question quiz. A score of two or more marks the topic as complete on this device.
Which topics are related to Transport in Plants?
Related topics in Biology include Reproduction in Flowering Plants, Anaerobic Respiration, Smoking and Lung Disease.