Photosynthesis

• Photosynthesis


  Process used by plants to produce food from light
• Heterotroph


  Living thing that can't make its own food, it ingest it
• Autotroph


  Living thing that can make its own food
• How Plants Photosynthesis


  1. Carbon dioxide enters through stomata

  2. Water enters through roots, travels to leaves via stem

  3. Chloroplasts in plant cells contain chlorophyll

  4. Chlorophyll absorbs energy from sunlight

  5. Chemical reaction in chloroplasts produces glucose and oxygen
• Chlorophyll


  Green pigment inside chloroplasts that absorbs light to make glucose or food for the plant
• Stomata


  Microscopic pores in plant leaves that control gas exchange
• Photosynthesis is a physiological process that is essential for life
• Photosynthesis is a chemical process that involves forming or breaking chemical bonds between atoms
• Factors affecting photosynthesis


  • Availability of water
  • Availability of carbon dioxide
  • Availability of chlorophyll
  • Temperature
  • Light
• Carbon cycle


  1. Carbon dioxide enters atmosphere from plant/animal respiration

  2. Plants use carbon dioxide and sunlight to make food in photosynthesis

  3. When plants/animals die, microorganisms cause decomposition and release carbon dioxide back into atmosphere

  4. Sometimes decomposition is blocked and carbon is stored as fossil fuels over millions of years

  5. Carbon is absorbed by animals when they eat plants