A hungry rabbit comes along and decides to eat some of the plant, which provides the energy that allows the rabbit to hop back to its home. When the pea podsĪre fully grown, the plant may no longer need as much sugar and will store it in its cells. This is similar to how you eat food to grow taller and stronger. But rather than going to the store and buying groceries, the pea plant will use sunlight to obtain the energy to build sugar. If that pea plant is forming new pods, it requires a large amount of sugar energy to grow larger. In each sugar molecule created, there is a little bit of the energy from the Sun, which the plant can either use or store for later. The whole process of photosynthesis is a transfer of energy from the Sun to a plant. If we were to write a formula for photosynthesis, it would look like this:ĦCO 2 + 6H 2O + Light energy → C 6H 12O 6 (sugar) + 6O 2 Other organisms, such as animals, use oxygen to aid in their survival. Even the oxygen that is released serves another purpose. The oxygen that is produced is released from the same tiny holes through which the carbon dioxide entered. After the sugar is produced, it is then broken down by the mitochondria into energy that can be used for growth and repair. How does a plant take carbon dioxide and water molecules and make a food molecule? The Sun! The energy from light causes a chemical reaction that breaks down the molecules of carbon dioxide and water and reorganizes them to make the sugar (glucose) and oxygen gas. The last requirement for photosynthesis is an important one because it provides the energy to make sugar. For most plants, roots are responsible for absorbing water. For example, desert plants, like a cactus, have less available water than a lilypad in a pond, but every photosynthetic organism has some sort of adaptation, or special structure, designed to collect water. Depending on the environment, a plant’s access to water will vary.

Plants also require water to make their food. Carbon dioxide enters through tiny holes in a plant’s leaves, flowers, branches, stems, and roots.

Plants, however, take in and use carbon dioxide gasįor photosynthesis. During the respiration process, animals inhale all of the gases in the atmosphere, but the only gas that is retained and not immediately exhaled is oxygen. Animals take in gases through a process called respiration. Just like you, plants need to take in gases in order to live. To perform photosynthesis, plants need three things: carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight.īy taking in water (H2O) through the roots, carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air, and light energy from the Sun, plants can perform photosynthesis to make glucose (sugars) and oxygen (O2). This process is called photosynthesis and is performed by all plants, algae, and even some microorganisms. Rather, plants use sunlight, water, and the gases in the air to make glucose, which is a form of sugar that plants need to survive. Many people believe they are “feeding” a plant when they put it in soil, water it, or place it outside in the Sun, but none of these things are considered food. Plants are called autotrophs because they can use energy from light to synthesize, or make, their own food source. But what can plants do when they get hungry? You are probably aware that plants need sunlight, water, and a home (like soil) to grow, but where do they get their food? They make it themselves! When you get hungry, you grab a snack from your fridge or pantry.

They hunger half life source