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Lesson: Chapter 8 — Characteristics of Living Organisms

8.6. Movement 3 of 3

Movement without going anywhere

A plant does not travel. But it responds to a stimulus through the direction in which it grows.

You will have seen the shoot tip of a plant potted near a window growing towards the light. The shoot tip of a plant grows towards light and the root grows towards gravity.

Positively phototropic

The stem grows towards the light. The stimulus is light.

Positively geotropic

The root grows towards gravity. The stimulus is gravity.

The stimuli that cause movement

Organisms show movements as responses to the stimuli acting on them. Those stimuli can be of many kinds:

light / darkness chemical substances gravity heat / temperature vibration / touch

A growth movement is slow

A mimosa leaf folds in a second — that is a leaf movement. But a shoot tip takes days to turn towards the light — that is a growth movement. Both are movements, but the second happens because the plant grows faster on one side than on the other.