Mikayla spends the day at a lake with some friends. She spends some time exploring the lake. As she looks around, she notices that there are plants only in certain areas. Where would she see plants growing? Why?

She would mostly see plants grow around the banks of the lake. In addition, she might see some plants growing in the lake.

The plants are majorly aquatic plants. The ones on the banks are emergent plants because their roots are submerged in water and their foliage is above water. They grow on the shores because it shallow there. Free-floating aquatic plants may grow in the lake because they are suspended on the water surface with their roots just floating underneath the water surface.

Because lakes are often large and deep, little sunlight reaches the bottom. The lack of sunlight and resulting cold temperatures limit the number of plants that can grow beneath the water. Therefore, most of the plant growth in lakes is limited to shallow areas near the shore, where there is a lot of sunlight.