Life Science Unit (Book)

What is Photosynthesis?

If a plant gets hungry, it cannot walk to a local restaurant and buy a slice of pizza. So, how does a plant get the "food" it needs to survive? Plants are producers, which means they are able to make, or produce, their own "food." They also produce the "food" for other organisms. Plants collect the energy from the sun and turn it into special chemicals. Using the energy from the sun, they produce the special chemicals using air, water and nutrients from the soil. So once again, how does a plant get the food it needs to survive? The plants is able to make its own "food" from the sun's energy, carbon dioxide from the air, and water.

 

Actually, almost all organisms obtain their energy from plants. For example, if a bird eats a caterpillar, then the bird gets the energy that the caterpillar. The caterpillar gets its energy from the plants it eats. So the bird indirectly gets energy from the plant. Therefore, the process of photosynthesis is central to sustaining life on Earth.