What is photosynthesis?
Quick answer from Eartha
Photosynthesis is how plants make their own food using sunlight! Leaves catch sunlight, then mix it with water and air to make sugary food for the plant. It's like a tiny kitchen inside every leaf. As a bonus, plants breathe out fresh oxygen for us while they cook up their meal.
The longer story
Plants can't visit a shop for lunch, so they make their own food. This clever trick is called photosynthesis, which means 'putting together with light'.
Leaves have a green colouring called chlorophyll that catches sunlight like a tiny solar panel. The leaf then combines that sunlight energy with water from the roots and carbon dioxide from the air.
Mixing these together makes a sugary food the plant uses to grow strong stems, roots and leaves. As a helpful side effect, the leaf releases oxygen into the air, the same gas that people and animals need to breathe.
Almost every plant on Earth does this every sunny day. It's one reason forests and gardens help keep our air fresh and clean.
Try this at home: leaf sun hunt
- Go outside and find a leaf sitting in bright sunshine.
- Feel a leaf in the shade too and notice if it feels different.
- Talk about how both leaves are quietly making food using light.
Words to know
- Chlorophyll
- The green colouring in leaves that catches sunlight.
- Carbon dioxide
- A gas in the air that plants use to make food.
- Oxygen
- A gas plants release that people and animals breathe in.
For grown-ups: what is my child learning here?
Age band: 5-8
Curriculum link: Australian Curriculum v9 Science, AC9S2U01
The concept: Plants have observable features and life processes that help them survive and grow.
More classroom ideas are on our teachers page, and safety notes for families are on for parents.
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