Photosynthesis: Building Food from Sunlight
Aligned to MS-LS1-6 — Next Generation Science Standards.
What this lesson teaches
Plants use energy from sunlight to combine carbon dioxide and water into sugar, releasing oxygen. This process moves energy from the sun into living matter and cycles carbon atoms from the air into the bodies of organisms.
Worked example
A leaf takes in carbon dioxide through tiny pores and water through its roots; in the chloroplasts, sunlight powers a reaction that rearranges those atoms into sugar the plant uses to grow — the carbon in the plant's stem was once carbon dioxide gas in the air.
Practice questions
- Blow gently on a mirror and observe the water plants also release; note what gases a leaf takes in and gives off.
- Draw a model showing where the atoms in carbon dioxide and water end up after photosynthesis.
- Explain, using evidence, how the mass of a growing tree can come mostly from a gas in the air.
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
Fotosíntesis: fabricar alimento a partir de la luz solar
Las plantas usan la energía de la luz solar para combinar dióxido de carbono y agua en azúcar, liberando oxígeno. Este proceso lleva energía del sol hacia la materia viva y cicla los átomos de carbono del aire hacia los cuerpos de los organismos.
Ejemplo: Una hoja toma dióxido de carbono por poros diminutos y agua por sus raíces; en los cloroplastos, la luz solar impulsa una reacción que reorganiza esos átomos en azúcar que la planta usa para crecer — el carbono del tallo de la planta antes fue gas de dióxido de carbono en el aire.
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