The Bet of Knowledge≡The Plants kingdom
The Kingdom Plantae (Kingdom of Plants) encompasses eukaryotic, multicellular, autotrophic (photosynthetic) beings with a cell wall rich in cellulose.
Main features:
Photosynthesis: They produce their food using sunlight, water and carbon dioxide.
Reproduction: Can be sexual (with gametes) or asexual (cloning, spores, budding).
Classification:
Bryophytes: Small, without conducting vessels (e.g. mosses).
Pteridophytes: They have vessels, but no seeds (e.g.: ferns).
Gymnosperms: "Naked" seeds, without fruit (e.g. pine trees).
Angiosperms: Seeds protected by fruits, flowers (e.g. fruit trees).
Plants are essential for environmental balance, providing oxygen, food and shelter. In education, studying this kingdom develops notions about ecology, biodiversity and sustainability.
Origin of Oxygen to Human Impact
The oxygen generated by these living beings slowly accumulated in the atmosphere, which changed its composition and created, around 400 million years ago, the conditions necessary for the formation of an ozone layer. This layer is capable of filtering ultraviolet radiation, thus allowing living beings to colonize terrestrial environments outside of water.
The enrichment of the atmosphere with oxygen, produced in photosynthesis, allowed this gas to become available and be used by living beings in cellular respiration, which in turn releases the carbon dioxide consumed in photosynthesis into the atmosphere.
The Earth's atmosphere has undergone continuous changes in its composition over geological time, responsible for drastic climate changes and mass extinctions. Currently, it is human activities that produce a growing and global impact on the atmosphere with consequences that are still difficult to predict.
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Evolution of the Atmosphere
The Earth was an uninhabitable place with no breathable air for hundreds of millions of years after its formation. Over time, however, it developed an atmosphere that was quite different from the one we know today. The primitive atmosphere was composed of methane, ammonia, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapour, but there was no oxygen.
Oxygen only appeared in the atmosphere due to its release by living beings, namely through photosynthesis. The first photosynthetic beings were not plants or algae, as they did not yet exist. The first living beings to carry out photosynthesis and release oxygen into the atmosphere were microorganisms similar to today's bacteria that began to appear in the primitive oceans, more than 3,000 million years ago.
The Importance of the Atmosphere for Life
Atmosphere: The atmosphere plays crucial roles in sustaining life, such as filtering harmful ultraviolet rays through the ozone layer , protecting against meteorite impacts , and regulating the environmental temperature compatible with life through the greenhouse effect . These characteristics help create suitable conditions for life.
The existence of the atmosphere is possible due to the size and mass of the Earth, which generate sufficient gravitational attraction to keep this layer of gases attached to its surface. Without this gravitational force, the atmosphere would disperse into space.
Essential Elements for Life on Earth
Geosphere dynamics: The movement of tectonic plates and the rock cycle are processes that shape landscapes, form soils and create new environments, driving the evolution and diversity of species.
Water: The abundance of liquid water is essential for life, as it makes up between 70% and 90% of the body weight of living beings and participates in all their vital processes.
Natural environments: The variety of habitats on Earth favors the capacity for adaptation and the growth of biodiversity, increasing the chances of survival and continuity of species.
The Influence of the Moon and the Giant Planets
The Moon and the giant planets: The movement of the Moon around the Earth helps to stabilize the axis of rotation, maintaining a constant tilt, which is crucial for the cycle of the seasons . In addition, the gravitational force of the Moon is responsible for the occurrence of tides and ocean currents , which influence the Earth's climate . The gravity of the giant planets, especially Jupiter, attracts asteroids and comets that could collide with the Earth and cause extinctions .
Earth's magnetic field: This field acts as a protective shield, deflecting much of the harmful radiation emitted by the Sun.
Essential conditions for life on Earth
Earth is the only planet in the Solar System that has the ideal conditions for life as we know it. Some of the factors that make this possible include: the perfect distance from the Sun, the influence of the Moon and the giant planets, the presence of a magnetic field, the dynamism of the geosphere, the abundance of water, the diversity of natural environments and a protective atmosphere.
Distance from the Sun: Earth orbits within the habitable zone of the Solar System, at a distance that allows the presence of liquid water on its surface.
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