Montauroux, France - M. Perrier's class.

Monday, 28th April

Interview with Jean Colcombet, researcher at the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE). 
The theme was ‘Why plants are necessary for life’.

He told us about photosynthesis, trophic chains (food chains) and how plants are very important to animals and human beings. He also told us how plants adapt to their environment: they open or close their stomata to breathe or conserve water; the signals they use when attacked; and how they secrete products that animals don't like. We have seen that some plants can remain as seeds in the desert for years and then bloom as soon as the first rain falls. 

Monday, 5th May: 

Another meeting with Jean. This time he talked to us about his work and his role as a researcher. His role is to identify the proteins inside plants (there are over 30,000 in the plant he's working on) and to understand their role.