Photosynthesis. Many of you will know this is
one of my favourite words! It is made up of two parts:
- photo = to do with light
(like photography, photo-sensitive)
- synthesis = making,
putting something together (like a synthesiser for making music, or
putting together ideas to write an essay, or mixing substances to produce
a compound in a chemical experiment)
Green plants do this every day all day! They use
sunlight to power a chemical process. It is very complicated and yet very
simple too! Let’s keep it simple here:
Plants USE light, carbon dioxide and water to MAKE sugars
The complicated word for different kinds of sugar is
carbohydrates (“car-bo-hi-drates”). The plants make leaves, stems,
flowers, roots and seeds out of their carbohydrates. This means we can
eat salad, potatoes, carrots, apples, raspberries, tomatoes, pumpkins…I could
go on and on! Even if you love burgers and steaks, they wouldn’t exist if
the cows didn’t have grass to eat – and of course grass is a plant that uses photosynthesis
to grow. Even fish in the seas depend on phyto-plankton which are plants and
they use photosynthesis to grow and reproduce.
The process of photosynthesis produces not only
sugars but oxygen too. That’s handy for us as we need to have oxygen in
the air to be able to breath!
So as you venture outside for your exercise and fresh air
today, spare a moment to look at something green – something that is using photosynthesis
to grow. It is spring and many seedlings are just starting this
process. See if you can spot some seedlings – even if they are just
weeds. Also, look up to the bigger trees and branches to see if you can
spot a leaf starting to uncurl. Photosynthesis is like an engine that
powers life on our precious planet. Take a deep breath and then say the
word out loud: PHOTOSYNTHESIS!
I love it! Do you? S3 pupils – you can tell us
what seedlings you spotted in our TEAMS meeting tomorrow 😊
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