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https://www.brainpop.com/games/whatplantsneed/

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1_uez5WX1o

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pD68uxRLkM

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pD68uxRLkM

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A middle school level article explaining photosynthesis and why its important

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A middle school level article explaining photosynthesis and why its important

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http://www.ftexploring.com/photosyn/photosynth.html

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1Ymc311XS8

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http://www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/Games/sciencenews/index.htm

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https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/photosynthesis

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xeYNnzwpSE

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basic video

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middle school level video

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http://www.newtonsapple.tv/TeacherGuide.php?id=915

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http://sactree.com/pages/302
Kaitlin Merrifield

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rap/song

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https://www.brainpop.com/games/whatplantsneed/

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https://www.brainpop.com/games/buildatree/

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http://www.dictionary.com/browse/photosynthesis

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very basic

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Photosynthesis for Kids - How plants make food - Animation Science

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1_uez5WX1o      a little bit advanced

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1_uez5WX1o      a little bit advanced

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xNwZCk2CHY

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A pretty high level page explaining what photosynthesis is.

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A pretty high level page explaining what photosynthesis is.

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http://www.livescience.com/51720-photosynthesis.html

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ttps://biomanbio.com/HTML5GamesandLabs/PhotoRespgames/photoresphtml5page.html

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Photosynthesis | #aumsum #kids #science #education #children

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advanced video

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1_uez5WX1o

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This is pretty advanced so you might not get it at first glance.

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Photosynthesis, Chloroplast | Learn Science at Scitable

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The sun is the ultimate source of energy for virtually all organisms. Photosynthetic cells are able to use solar energy to synthesize energy-rich food molecules and to produce oxygen.

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level: beginner
game

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In this free online science interactive, students explore how a plant's environmental conditions affect its growth and development.

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this is a middle school level

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https://www.brainpop.com/games/whatplantsneed/

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Its about a basic to intermediate game.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgFuim1aqbY

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Song

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A paragraph explaining photosynthesis about middle school level

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A paragraph explaining photosynthesis about middle school level

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http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0775714.html

# data[].attributes.body
game

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.newtonsapple.tv/TeacherGuide.php?id=915

# data[].attributes.body
Basic song

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQK3Yr4Sc_k

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Explanation of humans being able to use photosynthesis.

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​The sun is a nearly endless source of fuel, for those who can tap it. Image: Yoshikazu Takada / Flickr

​Imagine if we could do as the plants do, and feed directly off the sun's energy. It would certainly make our lives easier: The countless hours spent purchasing, preparing, and eating food could be redirected elsewhere (and we wouldn't even need Soylent). Over-exploited agricultural lands would revert to natural ecosystems. Rates of starvation, malnutrition, and food borne illness would plummet.

But humans and plants haven't shared a common ancestor for hundreds of millions of years. Nearly everything about our biology is fundamentally different. So it would seem like there's no way we could actually engineer ourselves to do photosynthesis-or is there?

Synthetic biologists like Christina Agapakis have actually been exploring this possibility in depth, and have even tried to create plant-animal hybrids of their own. While we're far from building a photosynthetic human, new research reveals an intriguing biological mechanism that could advance this nascent field.

Woods Hole's Marine Biological Laboratory reported last week that scientists have unlocked the secret behind Elysia chlorotica, the brilliant green sea slug that looks like a leaf, eats sunlight like a leaf, but is, in fact, an animal. Turns out E. chlorotica maintains its vivid hue by consuming algae and pirating their photosynthesis genes. It's the only known instance of a multicellular organism co-opting DNA from another.

"There is no way on Earth that genes from an algae should work inside an animal cell," study co-author Sidney K. Pierce, an emeritus professor at University of South Florida, said in a statement. "And yet here, they do. They allow the animal to rely on sunshine for its nutrition." If humans wanted to hack our own cells to do photosynthesis, researchers say, we might use a similar mechanism.

When it comes to tapping the sun's energy, humans have spent a billion years moving in the wrong evolutionary direction. As plants became paper thin and transparent, animals became thick and opaque. Plants conserve their slow but constant drip of sun juice by remaining still, but we like to move about-and require energy-dense food to do so.

When you get down to biology's smallest scales-our cells and our genetic code-it turns out, we're not so very different. It's the astounding convergence of life at its most fundamental levels that enables extraordinary feats, like an animal stealing photosynthesis, to be possible. Now, through the burgeoning field of synthetic biology, we may be able to recreate such events in an evolutionary blink, making biopunk ideas like photosynthetic skin patches seem a little less science fictional.

"Usually, when you take genes from one organism and insert them into the cells of another organism, it doesn't work," Pierce told me. "But when it does work, it can make a huge difference overnight. It's like rapid evolution."

For all their exquisiteness, sea slugs are not the only animals that have stolen solar secrets from the plant kingdom. There's the pea aphid, which, as Nature documented in 2012, charges up a solar-powered backpack using light-harvesting pigments called carotenoids. And the oriental hornet might use a similar trick, utilizing a pigment called xanthopterin to convert light energy to electricity. But neither of these creatures are truly photosynthetic-both lack the critical ability to turn carbon dioxide into sugar.

Still, there are other animals that really do photosynthesize, through symbiotic relationships. The classic example is coral; colonies of hundreds of soft-bodied animals that harbor photosynthetic dinoflagellates within their cells. Likewise, the spotted salamander uses algae to solar-power its embryos as they develop inside eggs.

Among the handful of animals who've gone green, however, solar-powered sea slugs are special. They've figured out how to cut out the middleman and do photosynthesis entirely for themselves, by slurping up algal chloroplasts-jelly bean-shaped photosynthetic organelles-and plastering them along the walls of their digestive tracts. Thereafter, the plant-animal hybrids can live for months eating nothing but sunlight. But exactly how slugs maintain their stolen solar factories has been a mystery.

Now Pierce and his co-authors have an explanation. The slugs, it seems, not only steal chloroplasts from algae, they swipe critical DNA blueprints as well. In a paper which appears in The Biological Bulletin, the authors use an advanced imaging technique to confirm that a gene from the alga V. litorea is present on E. chlorotica's chromosome. The gene, which encodes an enzyme used for chloroplast repair, probably helps the slug maintain its sunlight machines long after the algae have been devoured.

Genetic expropriation may be rare in nature, but scientists have been tinkering with it in the lab for decades. By hacking genes from one organism into another, we've created scores of new life forms, from corn that makes its own pesticide to glow-in-the-dark plants. Is it crazy to suppose, then, that we might follow in nature's example, and hack photosynthesis into animals-perhaps even humans?

"I tried to sell that idea to the Navy years ago," Pierce told me over the phone. "My thinking was, if we could get chloroplasts into human skin, well, maybe we could keep a person underwater forever." (Photosynthesis produces oxygen, in addition to sugar.)

The Navy never went for it, but other researchers have given the matter serious consideration. Biologist, designer and writer Christina Agapakis, who holds a PhD in synthetic biology from Harvard, has spent a lot of time thinking about how to engineer new symbioses, including animal cells that can do photosynthesis. As Agapakis pointed out when I spoke with her over the phone, plants' predecessors co-opted chloroplasts -which were once free-living bacteria-eons ago.

"This is an evolutionary story that happened billions of years ago," Agapakis told me. "We asked what would happen on a shorter timescale." She went on to recount an experiment wherein zebrafish embryos were injected with photosynthetic bacteria. Astonishingly, the fish didn't die, and neither did the bacteria.

"If we injected E. coli -even dead ones-the embryos would die within an hour," Agapakis said. "But injecting photosynthetic bacteria, the fish would still grow. From an evolutionary point of view, it seems like there's something special about photosynthesis."

It was a fascinating demonstration of biological versatility. But it's a far cry from creating, de novo, an organism that lives off the sun. The trouble, Agapakis explained, is it takes a heck of a lot of surface area to capture enough sunlight to make a meal. With leaves, plants are able to harness an enormous amount of solar energy relative to their size. Thick, fleshy humans, with our low surface-area-to-volume ratios, probably don't have the necessary bandwidth.

​

"If you're asking, can I make myself entirely photosynthetic, I'd say that first, you'd have to stop moving entirely, second, you'd have to become see-through," said Agapakis. "We did a calculation for the zebrafish and realized we'd need thousands of algae per cell to make it work."

Indeed, sunlight-hungry E. chlorotica might be the exception that proves the rule. The slug has evolved to look and act so much like a leaf that, in many ways, it's arguably more plant than animal.

But even if we couldn't subsist entirely off the sun, who's to say we can't supplement our diets with a little solar snack every now and again? Indeed, most animals that do photosynthesis, including a few ofE. chlorotica's cousins, don't rely entirely on sun-fuel. They use their photosynthetic machinery as more of a back-up generator, for times when food is otherwise scarce.

"It's a hedge against starvation," Pierce told me. "In an ecological sense, photosynthesis can provide animals considerable freedom."

Or, perhaps we could design a new use for photosynthesis entirely.

"Maybe you'd just have a green patch on your skin, a light-activated wound healing system, for instance," Agapakis said. (It's an awesome idea that scientists have tossed around over beers, but, apparently, is still waiting to be tackled.) "Something that doesn't require as much energy as a human."

So, while we might not go full solar anytime soon-not before we decide to make some more dramatic body modifications-we can still let nature's example inspire us. At the very least, celebrities sporting algal hair implants, or distance runners whose greenish hues allow them to stretch a little further on a sunny day, don't seem totally outside the realm of possibility.

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Eating the Sun: Can Humans Be Hacked to Do Photosynthesis?

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​The sun is a nearly endless source of fuel, for those who can tap it. Image: Yoshikazu Takada / Flickr ​Imagine if we could do as the plants do, and feed directly off the sun's energy. It would certainly make our lives easier: The countless hours spent purchasing, preparing, and eating food could be redirected elsewhere (and we wouldn't even need Soylent).

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1_uez5WX1o

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http://www.neok12.com/video/Photosynthesis/zX5f4866425a444c725f6045.htm

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a website that describes photosynthesis and why its important to us.

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this is more advanced due to the vocabulary and the terms 

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this is more advanced due to the vocabulary and the terms 

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Taylor Swift I Knew You Were Trouble: Photosynthesis Song with Lyrics

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Once upon a time in a chloroplast The sun split some water And excited an electron In the thylakoid The thylakoid The thylakoid membrane membrane It's sent to PS 2 And down the ETC To Photosystem 1 And loses energy H plus come in H plus come in H plus

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Basic website telling about everything in photosynthesis with video

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Basic website telling about everything in photosynthesis with video

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What is Photosynthesis?

The word photosynthesis can be separated to make two smaller words:

"photo" which means light

"synthesis" which means putting together

Plants need food but they do not have to wait on people or animals to provide for them. Most plants are able to make their own food whenever they need it. This is done using light and the process is called photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants make their own food. We will add more details to this definition after making a few things clear as you will see below.

What is needed for Photosynthesis?

To make food, plants need not just one but all of the following:

Let's take a look at how these are collected by plants.

Carbon dioxide from the air passes through small pores (holes) in the leaves. These pores are called stomata.

Water is absorbed by the roots and passes through vessels in the stem on its way to the leaves.

Sunlight is absorbed by a green chemical in the leaves.

What happens during Photosynthesis?

The photosynthesis process takes place in the leaves of plants. The leaves are made up of very small cells. Inside these cells are tiny structures called chloroplasts. Each chloroplast contains a green chemical called chlorophyll which gives leaves their green color.

Chlorophyll absorbs the sun's energy.

It is this energy that is used to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.

Oxygen is released from the leaves into the atmosphere.

Hydrogen and carbon dioxide are used to form glucose or food for plants.

Some of the glucose is used to provide energy for the growth and development of plants while the rest is stored in leaves, roots or fruits for later use by plants.

Here is the process in greater detail:

Photosynthesis occurs in two stages commonly known as Light dependent Reactions and the Calvin Cycle.
Light dependent Reactions
Light dependent reactions occur in the thylakoid membrane of the chloroplasts and take place only when light is available. During these reactions light energy is converted to chemical energy.

Chlorophyll and other pigments absorb energy from sunlight. This energy is transferred to the photosystems responsible for photosynthesis.

Water is used to provide electrons and hydrogen ions but also produces oxygen. Do you remember what happens to the oxygen?

The electrons and hydrogen ions are used to create ATP and NADPH. ATP is an energy storage molecule. NADPH is an electron carrier/donor molecule. Both ATP and NADPH will be used in the next stage of photosynthesis.

Details about the flow of electrons through Photosystem II, b6-f complex, Photosystem I and NADP reductase have not been included here but can be found under The Process of Photosynthesis in Plants.
The Calvin Cycle
The Calvin Cycle reactions occur in the stroma of the chloroplasts. Although these reactions can take place without light, the process requires ATP and NADPH which were created using light in the first stage. Carbon dioxide and energy from ATP along with NADPH are used to form glucose.

More details about the formation of sugars can be found under the Process of Photosynthesis in Plants.

What have you learned so far?

You already know that plants need carbon dioxide, water and sunlight to make their food. You also know that the food they make is called glucose. In addition to glucose, plants also produce oxygen. This information can be written in a word equation as shown below.

The equation below is the same as the one above but it shows the chemical formula for carbon dioxide, water, glucose and oxygen.

Now back to the definition... Earlier you learned that photosynthesis is the process by which plants make their own food. Now that we know what plants need to make food, we can add that information as shown below.
Photosynthesis is the process by which plants make their own food using carbon dioxide, water and sunlight.
What does Photosynthesis produce?

Photosynthesis is important because it provides two main things:

Some of the glucose that plants produce during photosynthesis is stored in fruits and roots. This is why we are able to eat carrots, potatoes, apples, water melons and all the others. These foods provide energy for humans and animals.

Oxygen that is produced during photosynthesis is released into the atmosphere. This oxygen is what we breathe and we cannot live without it.

While it is important that photosynthesis provides food and oxygen, its impact on our daily lives is far more extensive. Photosynthesis is so essential to life on earth that most living organisms, including humans, cannot survive without it.

All of our energy for growth, development and physical activity comes from eating food from plants and animals. Animals obtain energy from eating plants. Plants obtain energy from glucose made during photosynthesis.

Our major sources of energy such as natural gas, coal and oil were made millions of years ago from the remains of dead plants and animals which we already know got their energy from photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis is also responsible for balancing oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the air and release oxygen during the process of photosynthesis.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The word photosynthesis can be separated to make two smaller words: "photo" which means light "synthesis" which means putting together Plants need food but they do not have to wait on people or animals to provide for them. Most plants are able to make their own food whenever they need it.

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Photosynthesis | The Dr. Binocs Show | Learn Videos For Kids

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www.biology4kids.com/files/plants_photosynthesis.html

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https://www.brainpop.com/games/whatplantsneed/

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Photosynthesis is a process in which green plants use energy from the sun to transform water, carbon dioxide, and minerals into oxygen and organic compounds. It is one example of how people and plants are dependent on each other in sustaining life.

Photosynthesis happens when water is absorbed by the roots of green plants and is carried to the leaves by the xylem, and carbon dioxide is obtained from air that enters the leaves through the stomata and diffuses to the cells containing chlorophyll. The green pigment chlorophyll is uniquely capable of converting the active energy of light into a latent form that can be stored (in food) and used when needed.

Photosynthesis provides us with most of the oxygen we need in order to breathe. We, in turn, exhale the carbon dioxide needed by plants. Plants are also crucial to human life because we rely on them as a source of food for ourselves and for the animals that we eat.

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Photosynthesis is a process in which green plants use energy from the sun to transform water, carbon dioxide, and minerals into oxygen and organic compounds. It is one example of how people and plants are dependent on each other in sustaining life.

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How does photosynthesis happen in a plant?During photosynthesis: Light energy is absorbed by chlorophyll, a green substance found in chloroplasts in some plant cells and algae. Absorbed light energy is used to convert carbon dioxide (from the air) and water (from the soil) into a sugar called glucose. Oxygen is released as a by-product.

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How does photosynthesis happen in a plant?During photosynthesis: Light energy is absorbed by chlorophyll, a green substance found in chloroplasts in some plant cells and algae. Absorbed light energy is used to convert carbon dioxide (from the air) and water (from the soil) into a sugar called glucose. Oxygen is released as a by-product.

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Photosynthesis | Photosynthesis in plants | Photosynthesis - Biology basics for children | elearnin

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www.livescience.com/51720-photosynthesis.html

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https://www.hobart.k12.in.us/jkousen/Biology/phobig.html

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game

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basic game but good facts

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYbMPwmwx88

# data[].attributes.body
Its a medium kind of thing. it is a website.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What is Photosynthesis?

The word photosynthesis can be separated to make two smaller words:

"photo" which means light

"synthesis" which means putting together

Plants need food but they do not have to wait on people or animals to provide for them. Most plants are able to make their own food whenever they need it. This is done using light and the process is called photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants make their own food. We will add more details to this definition after making a few things clear as you will see below.

What is needed for Photosynthesis?

To make food, plants need not just one but all of the following:

Let's take a look at how these are collected by plants.

Carbon dioxide from the air passes through small pores (holes) in the leaves. These pores are called stomata.

Water is absorbed by the roots and passes through vessels in the stem on its way to the leaves.

Sunlight is absorbed by a green chemical in the leaves.

What happens during Photosynthesis?

The photosynthesis process takes place in the leaves of plants. The leaves are made up of very small cells. Inside these cells are tiny structures called chloroplasts. Each chloroplast contains a green chemical called chlorophyll which gives leaves their green color.

Chlorophyll absorbs the sun's energy.

It is this energy that is used to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.

Oxygen is released from the leaves into the atmosphere.

Hydrogen and carbon dioxide are used to form glucose or food for plants.

Some of the glucose is used to provide energy for the growth and development of plants while the rest is stored in leaves, roots or fruits for later use by plants.

Here is the process in greater detail:

Photosynthesis occurs in two stages commonly known as Light dependent Reactions and the Calvin Cycle.
Light dependent Reactions
Light dependent reactions occur in the thylakoid membrane of the chloroplasts and take place only when light is available. During these reactions light energy is converted to chemical energy.

Chlorophyll and other pigments absorb energy from sunlight. This energy is transferred to the photosystems responsible for photosynthesis.

Water is used to provide electrons and hydrogen ions but also produces oxygen. Do you remember what happens to the oxygen?

The electrons and hydrogen ions are used to create ATP and NADPH. ATP is an energy storage molecule. NADPH is an electron carrier/donor molecule. Both ATP and NADPH will be used in the next stage of photosynthesis.

Details about the flow of electrons through Photosystem II, b6-f complex, Photosystem I and NADP reductase have not been included here but can be found under The Process of Photosynthesis in Plants.
The Calvin Cycle
The Calvin Cycle reactions occur in the stroma of the chloroplasts. Although these reactions can take place without light, the process requires ATP and NADPH which were created using light in the first stage. Carbon dioxide and energy from ATP along with NADPH are used to form glucose.

More details about the formation of sugars can be found under the Process of Photosynthesis in Plants.

What have you learned so far?

You already know that plants need carbon dioxide, water and sunlight to make their food. You also know that the food they make is called glucose. In addition to glucose, plants also produce oxygen. This information can be written in a word equation as shown below.

The equation below is the same as the one above but it shows the chemical formula for carbon dioxide, water, glucose and oxygen.

Now back to the definition... Earlier you learned that photosynthesis is the process by which plants make their own food. Now that we know what plants need to make food, we can add that information as shown below.
Photosynthesis is the process by which plants make their own food using carbon dioxide, water and sunlight.
What does Photosynthesis produce?

Photosynthesis is important because it provides two main things:

Some of the glucose that plants produce during photosynthesis is stored in fruits and roots. This is why we are able to eat carrots, potatoes, apples, water melons and all the others. These foods provide energy for humans and animals.

Oxygen that is produced during photosynthesis is released into the atmosphere. This oxygen is what we breathe and we cannot live without it.

While it is important that photosynthesis provides food and oxygen, its impact on our daily lives is far more extensive. Photosynthesis is so essential to life on earth that most living organisms, including humans, cannot survive without it.

All of our energy for growth, development and physical activity comes from eating food from plants and animals. Animals obtain energy from eating plants. Plants obtain energy from glucose made during photosynthesis.

Our major sources of energy such as natural gas, coal and oil were made millions of years ago from the remains of dead plants and animals which we already know got their energy from photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis is also responsible for balancing oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the air and release oxygen during the process of photosynthesis.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The word photosynthesis can be separated to make two smaller words: "photo" which means light "synthesis" which means putting together Plants need food but they do not have to wait on people or animals to provide for them. Most plants are able to make their own food whenever they need it.

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photosynthesiseducation.com/photosynthesis-in-plants/

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A video about photosynthesis.

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photosynthesis/photosynthesis in plants/photosynthesis-biology basics for children/elearn

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https://www2.estrellamountain.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/BioBookPS.html

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thus website is kind of kiddish but its got some good facts

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thus website is kind of kiddish but its got some good facts

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http://seedsurvivor.com/agrium-games/Animation/index.htm

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This explains the process of photosynthesis.

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(Image credit: KPG_Payless | Shutterstock)

Photosynthesis is the process used by plants, algae and certain bacteria to harness energy from sunlight and turn it into chemical energy. Here, we describe the general principles of photosynthesis and highlight how scientists are studying this natural process to help develop clean fuels and sources of renewable energy.

Types of photosynthesis

There are two types of photosynthetic processes: oxygenic photosynthesis and anoxygenic photosynthesis. The general principles of anoxygenic and oxygenic photosynthesis are very similar, but oxygenic photosynthesis is the most common and is seen in plants, algae and cyanobacteria.

During oxygenic photosynthesis, light energy transfers electrons from water (H ₂O) to carbon dioxide (CO ₂), to produce carbohydrates. In this transfer, the CO ₂ is "reduced," or receives electrons, and the water becomes "oxidized," or loses electrons. Ultimately, oxygen is produced along with carbohydrates.

Oxygenic photosynthesis functions as a counterbalance to respiration by taking in the carbon dioxide produced by all breathing organisms and reintroducing oxygen to the atmosphere.

On the other hand, anoxygenic photosynthesis uses electron donors other than water. The process typically occurs in bacteria such as purple bacteria and green sulfur bacteria, which are primarily found in various aquatic habitats.

"Anoxygenic photosynthesis does not produce oxygen - hence the name," said David Baum, professor of botany at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "What is produced depends on the electron donor. For example, many bacteria use the bad-eggs-smelling gas hydrogen sulfide, producing solid sulfur as a byproduct."

Though both types of photosynthesis are complex, multistep affairs, the overall process can be neatly summarized as a chemical equation.

Oxygenic photosynthesis is written as follows:

Here, six molecules of carbon dioxide (CO ₂) combine with 12 molecules of water (H ₂O) using light energy. The end result is the formation of a single carbohydrate molecule (C ₆H ₁₂O ₆, or glucose) along with six molecules each of breathable oxygen and water.

Similarly, the various anoxygenic photosynthesis reactions can be represented as a single generalized formula:

The letter A in the equation is a variable and H ₂A represents the potential electron donor. For example, A may represent sulfur in the electron donor hydrogen sulfide (H ₂S), explained Govindjee and John Whitmarsh, plant biologists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in the book " Concepts in Photobiology: Photosynthesis and Photomorphogenesis" (Narosa Publishers and Kluwer Academic, 1999).

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

The photosynthetic apparatus

The following are cellular components essential to photosynthesis.
Pigments
Pigments are molecules that bestow color on plants, algae and bacteria, but they are also responsible for effectively trapping sunlight. Pigments of different colors absorb different wavelengths of light. Below are the three main groups.

Chlorophylls: These green-colored pigments are capable of trapping blue and red light. Chlorophylls have three subtypes, dubbed chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and chlorophyll c. According to Eugene Rabinowitch and Govindjee in their book "Photosynthesis"(Wiley, 1969), chlorophyll a is found in all photosynthesizing plants. There is also a bacterial variant aptly named bacteriochlorophyll, which absorbs infrared light. This pigment is mainly seen in purple and green bacteria, which perform anoxygenic photosynthesis.

Carotenoids: These red, orange or yellow-colored pigments absorb bluish-green light. Examples of carotenoids are xanthophyll (yellow) and carotene (orange) from which carrots get their color.

Phycobilins: These red or blue pigments absorb wavelengths of light that are not as well absorbed by chlorophylls and carotenoids. They are seen in cyanobacteria and red algae.

Plastids
Photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms contain organelles called plastids in their cytoplasm. The double-membraned plastids in plants and algae are referred to as primary plastids, while the multiple-membraned variety found in plankton are called secondary plastids, according to an articlein the journal Nature Education by Cheong Xin Chan and Debashish Bhattacharya, researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Plastids generally contain pigments or can store nutrients. Colorless and nonpigmented leucoplasts store fats and starch, while chromoplasts contain carotenoids and chloroplasts contain chlorophyll, as explained in Geoffrey Cooper's book, " The Cell: A Molecular Approach" (Sinauer Associates, 2000).

Photosynthesis occurs in the chloroplasts; specifically, in the grana and stroma regions. The grana is the innermost portion of the organelle; a collection of disc-shaped membranes, stacked into columns like plates. The individual discs are called thylakoids. It is here that the transfer of electrons takes place. The empty spaces between columns of grana constitute the stroma.

Chloroplasts are similar to mitochondria, the energy centers of cells, in that they have their own genome, or collection of genes, contained within circular DNA. These genes encode proteins essential to the organelle and to photosynthesis. Like mitochondria, chloroplasts are also thought to have originated from primitive bacterial cells through the process of endosymbiosis.

"Plastids originated from engulfed photosynthetic bacteria that were acquired by a single-celled eukaryotic cell more than a billion years ago," Baum told Live Science. Baum explained that the analysis of chloroplast genes shows that it was once a member of the group cyanobacteria, "the one group of bacteria that can accomplish oxygenic photosynthesis."

In their 2010 article, Chan and Bhattacharya make the point that the formation of secondary plastids cannot be well explained by endosymbiosis of cyanobacteria, and that the origins of this class of plastids are still a matter of debate.
Antennae
Pigment molecules are associated with proteins, which allow them the flexibility to move toward light and toward one another. A large collection of 100 to 5,000 pigment molecules constitutes "antennae," according to an article by Wim Vermaas, a professor at Arizona State University. These structures effectively capture light energy from the sun, in the form of photons.

Ultimately, light energy must be transferred to a pigment-protein complex that can convert it to chemical energy, in the form of electrons. In plants, for example, light energy is transferred to chlorophyll pigments. The conversion to chemical energy is accomplished when a chlorophyll pigment expels an electron, which can then move on to an appropriate recipient.
Reaction centers
The pigments and proteins, which convert light energy to chemical energy and begin the process of electron transfer, are known as reaction centers.

The photosynthetic process

The reactions of plant photosynthesis are divided into those that require the presence of sunlight and those that do not. Both types of reactions take place in chloroplasts: light-dependent reactions in the thylakoid and light-independent reactions in the stroma.

Light-dependent reactions (also called light reactions): When a photon of light hits the reaction center, a pigment molecule such as chlorophyll releases an electron.

"The trick to do useful work, is to prevent that electron from finding its way back to its original home," Baum told Live Science. "This is not easily avoided, because the chlorophyll now has an 'electron hole' that tends to pull on nearby electrons."

The released electron manages to escape by traveling through an electron transport chain, which generates the energy needed to produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate, a source of chemical energy for cells) and NADPH. The "electron hole" in the original chlorophyll pigment is filled by taking an electron from water. As a result, oxygen is released into the atmosphere.

Light-independent reactions (also called dark reactions and known as the Calvin cycle): Light reactions produce ATP and NADPH, which are the rich energy sources that drive dark reactions. Three chemical reaction steps make up the Calvin cycle: carbon fixation, reduction and regeneration. These reactions use water and catalysts. The carbon atoms from carbon dioxide are "fixed," when they are built into organic molecules that ultimately form three-carbon sugars. These sugars are then used to make glucose or are recycled to initiate the Calvin cycle again.

(Image credit: PNNL, QuickBird satellite)

Photosynthesis in the future

Photosynthetic organisms are a possible means to generate clean-burning fuels such as hydrogen or even methane. Recently, a research group at the University of Turku in Finland, tapped into the ability of green algae to produce hydrogen. Green algae can produce hydrogen for a few seconds if they are first exposed to dark, anaerobic (oxygen-free) conditions and then exposed to light The team devised a way to extend green algae's hydrogen production for up to three days, as reported in their 2018 study published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science.

Scientists have also made advances in the field of artificial photosynthesis. For instance, a group of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, developed an artificial system to capture carbon dioxide using nanowires, or wires that are a few billionths of a meter in diameter. The wires feed into a system of microbes that reduce carbon dioxide into fuels or polymers by using energy from sunlight. The team published its design in 2015 in the journal Nano Letters.

In 2016, members of this same group published a study in the journal Science that described another artificial photosynthetic system in which specially engineered bacteria were used to create liquid fuels using sunlight, water and carbon dioxide. In general, plants are only able to harness about one percent of solar energy and use it to produce organic compounds during photosynthesis. In contrast, the researchers' artificial system was able to harness 10 percent of solar energy to produce organic compounds.

Continued research of natural processes, such as photosynthesis, aids scientists in developing new ways to utilize various sources of renewable energy. Seeing as sunlight, plants and bacteria are all ubiquitous, tapping into the power of photosynthesis is a logical step for creating clean-burning and carbon-neutral fuels.
Additional resources:

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(Image credit: KPG_Payless | Shutterstock) Photosynthesis is the process used by plants, algae and certain bacteria to harness energy from sunlight and turn it into chemical energy. Here, we describe the general principles of photosynthesis and highlight how scientists are studying this natural process to help develop clean fuels and sources of renewable energy.

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Advanced video explaining the stages of photosynthesis

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Advanced video explaining the stages of photosynthesis

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Learn for free about math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.

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this is a video that explains more about photosynthesis i would say its middle school level

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You can click back or next at the bottom of the page for more.

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You can click back or next at the bottom of the page for more.

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http://www.eschooltoday.com/photosynthesis/what-is-photosynthesis.html

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Chlorophyll is the green pigment (color) that trap the suns light in the leaves. Without it, there would be no photosynthasis

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Chlorophyll is the green pigment (color) that trap the suns light in the leaves. Without it, there would be no photosynthasis

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuivYRmIACM

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVecDZdD17A

Kaitlin Merrifield

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All living things need energy to live, and energy comes from food. But, have you ever seen plants munching on pizza or eating a bowl of cereal? Nope. Plants get their energy in a different way. They use photosynthesis. Here’s how it works:Plants take water from the soil through their veins, which are called xylem. The water goes to the leaves. The leaves take carbon dioxide from the air into the plant. The carbon dioxide mixes with the water. Energy from the sun helps this process along and turns the combination into a sugar called glucose. The glucose is plant food. It gives the plants energy to grow.Sponsored Links : 

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All living things need energy to live, and energy comes from food. But, have you ever seen plants munching on pizza or eating a bowl of cereal? Nope. Plants get their energy in a different way. They use photosynthesis. Here’s how it works:Plants take water from the soil through their veins, which are called xylem. The water goes to the leaves. The leaves take carbon dioxide from the air into the plant. The carbon dioxide mixes with the water. Energy from the sun helps this process along and turns the combination into a sugar called glucose. The glucose is plant food. It gives the plants energy to grow.Sponsored Links : 

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http://www.houseandhome.org/photosynthesis-facts/

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http://www.livescience.com/51720-photosynthesis.html

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middle school level really cool and easy to understand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pD68uxRLkM

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middle school level really cool and easy to understand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pD68uxRLkM

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video

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basic level

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Photosynthesis is the process by which plants and other things make food. It is a chemical process that uses sunlight to turn carbon dioxide into sugars the cell can use as energy. As well as plants, many kinds of algae, protists and bacteria use it to get food. See the fact file below for more information about photosynthesis.

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Photosynthesis is the process by which plants and other things make food. It is a chemical process that uses sunlight to turn carbon dioxide into sugars the cell can use as energy. As well as plants, many kinds of algae, protists and bacteria use it to get food. See the fact file below for more information about photosynthesis.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf9ETlgOaHc

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https://kidskonnect.com/science/photosynthesis/

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Basic website

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http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0775714.html

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHVhM-pLRXk

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJxZH_Y5D4s this is a middle school level video

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJxZH_Y5D4s this is a middle school level video

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A cool project!

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This explains the process of photosynthesis.

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/www.brainpop.com/science/cellularlifeandgenetics/photosynthesis/  this is a middle school level video from brain pop

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https://www2.estrellamountain.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/BioBookPS.html

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this is a game it is slightly advanced because of the vocabulary they use in it.