Photosythesis

• Photosynthesis


  The process by which plants capture energy from light and transfer it into food
• Your energy comes from the food that you eat. Energy is passed from one organism to another along a food chain
• Every food chain begins with a plant. Plants capture energy from light, and transfer some of the energy into the food that they make
• When we eat food, we get some of that energy
• In this unit, we will look at how plants use energy from light to make food
• Photosynthesis


  Making with light
• Photosynthesis is the way that plants make food, using energy from light
• What plants need for photosynthesis

  • Water (from the soil)
  • Carbon dioxide (from the air)
• Plants also make a very important gas - oxygen
• Photosynthesis


  Water and carbon dioxide are changed into food and oxygen, using energy from light
• Biomass


  Material that is made of living cells and tissues
• Plants use the food that they make in photosynthesis to make new cells and tissues
• Leaves


  • The organs that carry out photosynthesis in most plants
• Chlorophyll


  A green pigment essential for photosynthesis that captures energy from light
• The diagram shows the apparatus needed to collect the gas produced in photosynthesis
• You can use any plant that grows under water, like pond weed or seaweed
• Testing the gas collected

  1. Put hand in water and hold test tube near opening

  2. Take test tube out of water with opening downwards

  3. Get partner to light wooden splint and blow it out

  4. Remove thumb and quickly put glowing splint into test tube
• Cell wall


  A rigid structure made of cellulose and other materials that surrounds the plasma membrane of plant cells and provides support and protection.
• Chloroplasts


  Organelles in plant cells where photosynthesis takes place. Chloroplasts contain the chlorophyll pigments that absorb light energy and convert it into chemical energy.
• Vacuoles


  Large, fluid-filled sacs in plant cells that store nutrients, waste products, and other materials. Vacuoles also help maintain the turgor pressure that gives the cell its firmness.
• Mitochondria


  Organelles in plant cells (and other eukaryotic cells) that generate energy in the form of ATP through cellular respiration.
• Nucleus


  A membrane-bound organelle in plant cells that contains the cell's genetic material (DNA) and controls the cell's growth and reproduction.
• Endoplasmic reticulum


  A network of membrane-bound tubules in plant cells that help synthesize and transport proteins and other molecules within the cell.
• Golgi apparatus


  An organelle in plant cells that modifies, sorts, and packages proteins and lipids for transport to other parts of the cell or for secretion from the cell.