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Learning Outcome

Students will be able to identify the process of photosynthesis

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Description: This Padlet explores how plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to make their own food through photosynthesis.

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What is Photosynthesis?

Photosynthesis is the process by which green plants, algae, and some bacteria make their own food.

It happens in the chloroplasts of plant cells, which contain the green pigment chlorophyll.

Plants use sunlight, carbon dioxide (CO₂), and water (H₂O) to produce glucose (sugar) for energy and oxygen (O₂) as a by-product.

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Equation:

6CO2+6H2O+light→C6H12O6+6O26CO₂ + 6H₂O + light → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂

Key Ingredients (Reactants):

1. Sunlight – provides energy.

2. Water (H₂O) – absorbed through roots.

3. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) – taken in through tiny pores in leaves called stomata.

Products:

1. Glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆):

Plant food, used for growth and energy.

Stored as starch in roots, stems, and leaves.

2. Oxygen (O₂):

Released into the air – essential for humans and animals to breathe.

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Why is Photosynthesis Important?

Provides oxygen for living things.

Produces food (plants form the base of all food chains).

Helps regulate the Earth’s atmosphere by absorbing carbon dioxide.

Supports life on Earth – without photosynthesis, life would not exist.

Fun Facts:

About 70–80% of Earth’s oxygen comes from photosynthesis in the ocean (algae, not just land plants).

The Amazon rainforest is called the “lungs of the Earth.”

Photosynthesis not only feeds plants—it feeds us indirectly, since we eat plants (and animals that eat plants).

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Simple Way to Remember:

“Plants take in sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water → make sugar for food and give out oxygen.”

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Photosynthesis in plants for children - Natural Science for kids

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The simple story of photosynthesis and food - Amanda Ooten

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The general chemical equation for photosynthesis is:

6CO2​+6H2​O+Light Energy→C6​H12​O6​+6O2​

6CO2​ (carbon dioxide) and 6H2​O (water) are the reactants.

C6​H12​O6​ (glucose) and 6O2​ (oxygen) are the products.

Light energy from the sun powers the whole process.

Photosynthesis occurs inside specialized organelles in plant cells called chloroplasts.

Stage 1: The Light-Dependent Reactions

What it is: The "photo" part of photosynthesis, where light energy is captured and converted into short-term chemical energy.

Location: This stage occurs in the thylakoid membranes within the chloroplasts.

What happens:

Chlorophyll, the green pigment in plants, absorbs light energy from the sun.

This energy is used to split water molecules (H2​O). This process, called photolysis, releases oxygen (O2​) as a waste product, which is what we breathe! 🌬️

The energy from the sun is also used to create two important energy-carrying molecules: ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and NADPH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate). These molecules act like rechargeable batteries, storing energy to be used later.

Stage 2: The Light-Independent Reactions (Calvin Cycle)

What it is: The "synthesis" part of photosynthesis, where the chemical energy from the first stage is used to build glucose. It's often called the Calvin cycle.

Location: This stage takes place in the stroma, the fluid-filled space surrounding the thylakoids inside the chloroplast.

What happens:

The plant takes in carbon dioxide (CO2​) from the atmosphere through tiny pores in its leaves called stomata.

Using the energy from the ATP and NADPH produced in the light-dependent reactions, the plant "fixes" the carbon from CO2​. This means it converts inorganic carbon from the atmosphere into organic carbon compounds.

Through a series of complex reactions, these carbon compounds are rearranged and ultimately used to build glucose (C6​H12​O6​), a stable sugar molecule that the plant can use for energy or store for later.

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Photosynthesis is how plants make their own food.

1. A plant's leaves take in carbon dioxide from the air.

2. The plant's roots absorb water from the soil.

3. The leaves contain a green substance called chlorophyll.

4. Chlorophyll captures sunlight for energy.

5. Using the sunlight, the plant turns carbon dioxide and water into glucose.

6. Glucose is a type of sugar that the plant uses for food.

7. As a final step, the plant releases oxygen back into the air.