Comparative Essay :: Plants and Animal Systems

Plant/Animal Comparison

On this planet, there are many types of organisms. Many of these are plants and animals. Organisms must have certain essential systems in order to survive. However, how these systems uphold their structure between plants and animals is very diverse—even different animals have different structural systems, varying on the species quite greatly.

Structural Systems

The structural system of an animal is made of bones, quite commonly. It also may be made of cartilage, the material in the human ear. For example, sharks have a structural system made of cartilage rather than bone. Birds have bones, but they are hollow to allow the birds to fly. For the most part, the structure of an animal is the same, using

Plants often have a vascular base, allowing the plant to hold against gravity. Bryophytes have no vascular base, and are quite short due to the lack of vascular qualities. Vascular plants, such as anthophytes, are capable of holding a great amount of weight on the stem of the plant; enough structure to hold up a heavy flower or fruit, even.

Circulatory Systems

Animals have a beating heart, veins, and arteries tracing through every part of their body. If a vein or artery is cut off, such as when cutting off your circulation, it begins to feel tingly and starts throbbing. If one were to cut off their circulation long enough, it may even kill off the part of the body the bloodstream was supposed to run through. One of its functions is to carry oxygen from the lungs to the cells in the body, allowing the cells to perform cellular respiration.

The roots intake specific compounds from the soil, which are carried through the xylem to the leaves. There, they are used in the process of photosynthesis to create glucose as a source of energy. The glucose is carried throughout the plant through the phloem.

Food/Energy Processing

Food (meat, plants, etc) is eaten by the animal organisms, which chew the food to allow it to go through