Summary
What grows without eating and breathes without lungs? Plants and algae! Through the process of photosynthesis, they make their own food. It's kind of like eating, but different from how animals like us do it. To make this food, they use carbon dioxide from the air, which they breathe in through tiny structures called stomata. Using the energy from sunlight, they combine carbon dioxide with water to form a kind of sugar. That's where most of a plant's material comes from—they only take a tiny bit of nutrients from the soil. For most of Earth's history, photosynthesis has been moving carbon from the air to the ground, radically changing our planet. Press "play" to learn how!
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
A few questions to talk through after watching Photosynthesis:
- What is one new thing you learned about photosynthesis?
- Can you explain it to a partner in your own words?
- Where might you see this in the real world?
- What is one question you still have?
Quick work-a-long
Try it:
- Write one sentence explaining photosynthesis.
- Draw or give one example of your own.