Rubber is a natural product made from latex. Many plants, including dandelions, produce latex but most of the world’s latex, the key ingredient of rubber, comes from the rubber tree,…
Oil and water don’t mix – they are described as ‘immiscible’. Crude oil floats on the sea after a spill from a tanker. Motor oil shows up as a sheen…
Different parts of the country have soft or hard water. Hard water is water that has travelled through certain types of rock, including limestone, chalk and dolomite, and has forms…
Potatoes are tubers produced by the stems of the plant called Solanum tuberosum, which is part of the same family as tomatoes, peppers and aubergines. The plant produces tubers to…
Plants respond to gravity and to light, with roots growing downwards and away from the light, and shoots growing upwards and towards the light. The response to gravity is called…
A seed is a minute dormant plant that is waiting for the right conditions to grow (germinate). Seeds range from orchid seeds weighing a millionth of a gram to seeds…
Plants need water. Water in the cells helps plants to grow and make food, makes leaves and stems firm (a plant that needs watering wilts), and carries minerals from the…