Photosynthesis

Why are plants special? Plants are able to capture energy from the sun They do this using the green colour in their leaves Plants use this energy to make food for themselves Just about everything we eat contains energy that was captured from the sun

Chlorophyll The green colour is called chlorophyll It is a mixture of dyes We can extract chlorophyll and separate it

released into atmosphere WATER from soil LIGHT from sun GLUCOSE for biomass and energy CHLOROPHYLL in the leaves CARBON DIOXIDE diffuses from the air OXYGEN released into atmosphere WATER from soil

What do plants do with the energy? carbon dioxide light water glucose oxygen

Where do plants get water from?

How does a plant breathe? Plants don’t breathe like we do but they do exchange gases with the air

How can we test to see if a plant has made food? The plant will store the food in its leaves It is this food we test for First we kill the leaf – this fixes the starch and stops the leaf using it up The leaf then needs the colour removing We soften up the leaf We test for starch using iodine

How can we prove that plants need light for photosynthesis?

Questions Did your leaf contain starch? Why are plants important to humans? What would happen if we didn’t have any more plants? What effect does cutting down lots of tropic rain forests have on the atmosphere of the planet?