Rocket holds a leaf up to the window. Sunlight glows through its green veins.
"So the plant takes in water and air," he says. "But how does air turn into wood?"
Raven looks through her magnifier at the bottom of the leaf. "What do you notice? There are tiny holes."
Nova shines a green light that splits into three arrows: sunlight, water and carbon dioxide. "Three ingredients," she says. "One recipe."
Rocket grins. "A kitchen in every leaf," he says.
Plants use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to make a sugar called glucose. This process is called photosynthesis.
Carbon dioxide enters through tiny holes in a plant's leaves and stems.
The energy from light breaks apart the carbon dioxide and water. The plant rebuilds them into sugar and oxygen gas.
The plant releases the oxygen into the air. It uses the sugar to live and to build new leaves, stems and wood.
| Goes in | Comes out |
|---|---|
| Carbon dioxide from the air | Sugar (glucose) for the plant |
| Water from the roots | Oxygen released into the air |
| Energy from sunlight |
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| Plants make their own food. | ? |
| Plants need sunlight to make sugar. | ? |
| Plants take in oxygen to make sugar. | ? |
Photosynthesis is like a recipe with three ingredients.
Carbon dioxide and water are the materials. Sunlight is the energy.
The products are sugar for the plant and oxygen for the air.
You just learned one of the most important processes on Earth. Tomorrow we will see it all around us.