Life Science for Kids: How Plants Make Food
Do you know that plants make their own food? Now, if you’re picturing a plant cooking at a stove, you're probably thinking that can’t be true. But plants don’t have to cook like people do to make their own food. They use something called photosynthesis to make the food they need. That’s pho-to-syn-the-sis. Photo means light. Plants use sunlight to make food.
In nature, there are food producers and food consumers. Plants are producers. This means they can make their own food using air, light, soil, and water. Animals are consumers. They must find food to eat.
Photosynthesis Song
Chlorophyll and Pores
You know that plants use their roots to drink water. Did you also know that they use their leaves to absorb or take in sunlight?
Leaves have something called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll makes leaves green. It also lets the plant take in sunlight.
Look carefully at the leaves of a plant. You will see lots of small holes. These holes are called pores. They are also called stoma or stomata. These pores or stoma take in air. The plant uses air, sunlight and water to create a food called glucose. This is called photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis
To make food a plant needs air, sunlight and water. Water from the roots goes through the plant to the leaves. The leaves absorb a gas called carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and they use chlorophyll to collect and store energy from the sun. Water and carbon dioxide are the two main ingredients the plant needs to make food.
Water is made up of two gases called oxygen and hydrogen. During photosynthesis, the oxygen is released into the air. The hydrogen is used to make the sugars the plant uses for food.
This content reflects the personal opinions of the author. It is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and should not be substituted for impartial fact or advice in legal, political, or personal matters.
© 2013 JoanCA