1. Photosynthesis

2. 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

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

4. 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

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

6. Where do plants get water from?

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

8. 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

9. How can we prove that plants need light for photosynthesis?

12. 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?