Lesson 1 of 6
How plants make food
Goal: Describe how plants make food by photosynthesis.
Plants and algae do not eat. They make their own food, glucose, from carbon dioxide and water. This is photosynthesis.
- A plant takes in carbon dioxide and water. Carbon dioxide comes from the air, through the leaves. Water comes from the soil, through the roots.
- It makes glucose and oxygen. Glucose is a sugar. The plant uses it for energy, uses it to build new tissue, or stores it as starch. The oxygen goes out into the air.
- The energy is transferred from light. Photosynthesis happens in the chloroplasts of leaf cells. They hold chlorophyll, a green substance that absorbs the light.
Watch out! Soil is not a plant’s food. A plant takes water and a few minerals from the soil, but it makes its food in its leaves.
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Key words in this lesson
Photosynthesis How plants and algae make glucose, using energy from light
Glucose The sugar made in photosynthesis: a plant’s food
Chlorophyll The green substance that absorbs light
Chloroplast The part of a plant cell where photosynthesis happens
Carbon dioxide The gas a plant takes in for photosynthesis
Oxygen The gas given out in photosynthesis
Starch A store of glucose in a plant