Question

How is nitrogen useful for plants? Remember that you learnt this in the chapter ‘The Invisible Living World: Beyond Our Naked Eyes’, in your Grade 8 Science textbook.

Answer 1

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plants. It helps them in:

• Growth and development of leaves, stems and roots.
• Making proteins, which are needed for plant growth.
• Producing chlorophyll, which helps plants carry out photosynthesis.
• Forming DNA and other important substances needed by plant cells.

Although nitrogen is abundant in the atmosphere, plants cannot use atmospheric nitrogen directly. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria convert it into forms that plants can absorb from the soil.