By Lindsey Leetham, Sydney Saunders, Riley Currie, and Alice Leask
Amyloplasts are small organelles that are found only in plant cells Though they are colorless and not very well known, they play an important role for plants They appear as small round pockets filled with little bubbles Image:
Amyloplasts are responsible for storing starch granules as well as converting the starch they store into sugar when a plant needs energy. They store the starch by polymerization of glucose Overall, they are responsible for giving plants energy.
Amyloplasts can turn into chloroplasts They are almost always found in fruits or in the skin of tubers, such as potatoes or carrots
Now on to Chloroplasts!
Like amyloplasts, chloroplasts are organelles that are found only in plant cells They are filled with the chemical chlorophyll They are filled with green pigments, and that’s what gives plants their color!
Chloroplasts are responsible for helping their mother plant photosynthesize The chlorophyll in the chloroplasts help trap the suns energy and make sugar so the plant can have energy and grow.
Chloroplasts appear as small stacks of coins The “coins” are actually flat, membrane- covered sacs that store chlorophyll They look green because of the pigments in chlorophyll Image:
* Help plants photosynthesize *Filled with chlorophyll *green colored, look like stacks of coins *found in nearly every plant Amyloplasts Both *Convert starch to sugar *No color *Found in fruits and tubers *Only found in plant cells *Help give plants energy *Are organelles Chloroplasts