Photosynthesis for Kids: How Plants Turn Light Into Food (Grade 6 and Grade 7 Science)

Hi, I'm Luna from DoodleBeez. You get energy by eating food. But plants do not eat. So where does their food come from? Today we are learning photosynthesis, how plants make food from light.

Photosynthesis happens mostly in leaves, inside tiny parts of the cells called chloroplasts. Chloroplasts hold a green pigment called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll captures energy from sunlight. It is also why leaves look green.

A plant needs three ingredients. Light energy comes from the Sun. Water travels up from the roots. Carbon dioxide, a gas from the air, enters through tiny holes in the leaves called stomata.

Using the light energy, the chloroplasts rearrange the atoms of carbon dioxide and water. They build a sugar called glucose, and they give off oxygen. The light energy is now stored in the glucose.

The plant uses glucose for energy and to build new leaves, stems and roots. Most of a tree's mass actually comes from carbon dioxide in the air! The oxygen escapes through the stomata, and animals breathe it.

Photosynthesis powers almost every food chain. Plants store the Sun's energy in food. Animals eat plants, or eat animals that ate plants. So the energy in your lunch began as sunlight captured by a leaf.

Now it's your turn. A plant is kept in a dark cupboard for weeks, with water but no light. Can it carry out photosynthesis? Pause and try. No! Without light energy, it cannot make glucose.

Great job! Remember, in chloroplasts, plants use light energy to turn carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen. That stored energy feeds almost all life. Practice photosynthesis in the Science Lab at doodlebeez.com. See you next time!