p leaves dropping h leaves dropping o leaves dropping t leaves dropping o leaves dropping    
s leaves dropping y leaves dropping n leaves dropping t leaves dropping h leaves dropping e leaves dropping s leaves dropping i leaves dropping s leaves dropping

 

Shamrock image sun animation
Chlorophyll Sunlight
watering can animation

CO2

Water Carbon Dioxide

 

 

Photosynthesis

 

When you have finished this page, try the Photosynthesis Quiz.

Photosynthesis is the making of food by plants. The essential ingredients in making this food are sunlight, the chlorophyll that is present in green plants, water and carbon dioxide in the air. Photosynthesis is necessary not just for plants to make food for themselves, but for animals, including us eventually.

How does photosynthesis occur?

Water is taken in through the roots of the plant and transported to the leaves by the xylem (tubes that carry water) in the stems.

Carbon dioxide animals breathe out from the air goes into the leaves through the tiny pores called stomata and is spreads to the cells that contain chlorophyll in the inside layer of the leaf.

Sunlight is used to break down the water in the plant into oxygen which the plant gives off and we use to breathe. The hydrogen is then used with the carbon dioxide to create the food for the plants and ultimately food for animals as well.

 

 

Plants Main Page How Plants and Animals Differ Photosynthesis Algae Mosses
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Roots Stems Flowers Links and Activities Seeds