Learning Outcomes:
i. Students will define plasmolysis and its causes.
ii. They will relate the process of plasmolysis to osmotic pressure and understand the conditions under which it occurs.
Content:
i. Plasmolysis: The Retreat of the Cell Membrane:
ii. The Osmotic Connection:
List of Important Questions for Self-Study:
i. What is plasmolysis, and under what conditions does it occur?
ii. How is osmosis related to plasmolysis?
iii. Why doesn't plasmolysis occur in animal cells in the same way it does in plant cells?
iv. What might be the visible effects of plasmolysis on a plant?
v. How does plasmolysis demonstrate the concept of tonicity?
vi. Can plasmolysis be reversed, and if so, how?
vii. Why is the cell wall important in the process of plasmolysis?
viii. How do cells regulate osmotic pressure to prevent plasmolysis under normal conditions?
ix. What are the consequences of plasmolysis for plant tissue?
x. How might a biologist use plasmolysis to study the permeability of cell membranes?
Important Terminologies Used in Lesson:
Plasmolysis: The process in which cells lose water in a hypertonic solution, resulting in the shrinkage of the cell membrane away from the cell wall.
Osmosis: The diffusion of water through a semipermeable membrane from an area of low solute concentration to an area of high solute concentration.
Hypertonic Solution: A solution with a higher solute concentration compared to the solute concentration inside the cell.
Tonicity: The ability of a surrounding solution to cause a cell to gain or lose water.
Semipermeable Membrane: A membrane that allows certain molecules or ions to pass through it by diffusion.