Plants Having a “Light” Meal

LESSON 3

SCIENCE 9

QUARTER 2
• PHOTOSYNTHESIS comes
from the Greek word PHOS,
which means "light", and
synthesis, which means
"putting together".
• Plants get the raw materials
needed for photosynthesis
from the soil, the air, and
the sun.
• When it rains, water gets
absorbed into the ground.
Plants take in water along
with minerals from the soil
through its roots.
Photosynthesis
Overview
• What do plants in your garden
need to survive? They need to
be watered daily and be exposed
to sunlight and air.
• You also know that plants
produce sugar and oxygen in a
process called photosynthesis.
• Photosynthesis is divided into
two: the light-dependent
reactions and the Calvin cycle.
•Photosynthesis is an essential
process.
•Animals and humans directly
depend on plants for
nourishment, shelter, medicine,
and different compounds used for
industrial purposes.
•Because of these benefits, there is
always a danger
in overharvesting.
•Illegal activities of humans such
as illegal logging and kaingin
system can also add to scarcity of
beneficial plants.
Most life on Earth depends on photosynthesis.

The process is carried out by plants, algae, and some types

of bacteria, which capture energy from sunlight to produce
oxygen and chemical energy stored in glucose ( a sugar).

Herbivore then obtain this energy by eating plants, and

carnivores obtain it by eating herbivores.
• During photosynthesis, plants
take in carbon dioxide co2
and water H2O from air and
soil.
• Within the plant cell, the water
is oxidized, meaning it loses
electrons, while the carbon
dioxide is reduced, meaning it
gains electrons.
• This transforms the water into
oxygen and the carbon
dioxide into glucose. The plant
then releases the
oxygen back into the air, and
stores energy within the
glucose molecules.
• Plants and other photosynthetic
organisms contain
CHLOROPHYLL that traps
energy from the sun and
converts it into chemical energy
stored in sugar (glucose) and
other organic molecules.
• CHLOROPHYLL is a
green pigment in plants that is
found in the CHLOROPLAST.
• CHLOROPLAST of plants use
as process called
PHOTOSYNTHESIS.
• In roots, plants have
tubes called xylem and
phloem, tubes or veins which
runs throughout the plants'
bodies and bring water and
minerals from the soil to the
leaves.
• Leaves take in carbon
dioxide through its stomata-
it is in the leaves of plants
that photosynthesis takes
place.
•INTERNAL
STRUCTURE OF
A LEAF
CUTICLE - this is a waxy substance covering the upper epidermis. It
protects the leaf from dehydration.

UPPER EPIDERMIS - this protects the leaf and it has no chloroplast.

PALISADE MESOPHYLL CELL - this is a cell containing chloroplasts.

CHLOROPLAST- this cell organelle contains chlorophyll.

XYLEM – this is a vascular tube carrying water throughout the plant.

PHLOEM – This is a vascular tube carrying dissolved sugar molecules

throughout the plant.

GUARD CELL – This is one of the two crescent-shaped epidermal

cells that open and close a plant stoma (plural: stomata)

STOMATA - This is one of the minute openings in the epidermis of a

plant organ, where exchange of gases takes place.
• In photosynthesis, plants use
carbon dioxide , water, and
light to make sugar (glucose)
and release oxygen as by-
product.
• Photosynthesis occurs in two
sequential stages :
• 1. LIGHT-DEPENDENT REACTIONS
• 2. LIGHT –INDEPENDENT
REACTIONS or the CALVIN
CYCLE.
STAGE 1 : THE LIGHT-
DEPENDENT REACTIONS
• The light-dependent reactions
occur inside the chloroplast,
specifically in the thylakoid
membrane, where two important
reaction centers are imbedded:
the electron transport chain (ETC)
and the photosynthesis.
• ELECTRON TRANSPORT CHAIN
(ETC) - is a series of
enzymes embedded in the
membrane . Electrons are passed
along from one molecule to the
next, and the energy is given off to
make adenosine triphosphate
(ATP)
• PHOTOSYSTEMS are photopigments
such as chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b,
and carotenoids that are imbedded
in a membrane. They are efficient in
absorbing light energy.
• When they do, electrons
are boosted to a high-energy level.
In chloroplast, there are two
photosystems :
• PHOTOSYSTEM I or P700 – it absorbs
wavelengths of light at P700
nanometers.
• PHOTOSYSTEM II or P680 – it absorbs
wavelengths of light at 680
nanometers
• These two types of
photosystems work together
and use light energy to
generate ATP and nicotinamide
adenine dinucleotide
phosphate (NADPH)
• There are two distinct pathways
in the light reaction :
• 1. the cyclic
• 2. the non-cyclic
STAGE 2: THE CALVIN CYCLE
• The CALVIN CYCLE is also
known as the LIGHT-
INDEPENDENT REACTIONS or
the dark reactions.
• It takes place in the stroma of
the chloroplast, a liquid
surrounding the thylakoids.
• This cycle is aided by a set of
enzymes that catalyzes the
reactions.
 ABOUT PHOTORESPIRATION
•PHOTORESPIRATION occurs if there is not enough
carbon dioxide in the stroma.

•This happens when the stomata are closed due to an

increase of atmospheric temperature.

•This is a natural response of plants to high temperature to

prevent water molecules to escape from the leaf and to
prevent loosing too much water.
C3 Plants
• C3 PLANTS are greatly affected by
photorespiration because their
stomata can only tolerate a
temperature of 15-25 ° C.
• Beyond that temperature, the guard
cell closes the stomata to protect the
plants from losing too much water in
hot dry conditions.
• Most trees are C3 plants.
• Grasses, cereal grains, peanuts,
cotton, sugar beets, tobacco,
spinach, and soybeans are C3
plants, rice, wheat, and cotton.
 C4 plants
• C4 PLANTS are efficient even in dry
environments.
• They can tolerate a temperature
from 30 to 40 ° C because their
bundle sheets have chloroplasts
that can reserve enough
carbon dioxide even if the stomata
are closed.
• Carbon dioxide is taken in and
uses an enzyme to make 4 carbon
dioxide molecules
CAM Plants
• CAM plants open their stomata at
night.
• Carbon dioxide comes in and
creates malic acid.
• This is stored in the vacuole of
the cell.
• When it is daytime, CAM
plants close their stomata and
take carbon dioxide out of
the malic acid and use it
for the Calvin cycle to make
sugar.
• Recall the internal structure of
the leaf. Leaves have
chloroplasts, which are the
actual sites of photosynthesis.
A chloroplast is a double
membrane bound organelle—
it has outer and inner
membranes.
Inside the chloroplasts are thylakoids, which are stacks of
circular-shaped membranes filled with chlorophyll and
enzymes where the light reaction takes place.

The stack of thylakoids is called granum.

There is also an aqueous space in the chloroplast, which is

known as the stroma, where enzymes needed in the Calvin
cycle are found.
• An important complex present is the
photosystem. Photosystems are
light-harvesting complexes
embedded in the thylakoid
membrane. A photosystem is
composed of pigments called
chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and
carotenoid.
• When the light strikes the electron,
the electron jumps and transfers
energy from one pigment molecule
to another until it reaches the
reaction center where it will be
picked up by an electron carrier.
Phosphorylation means that a phosphate is added. Hence, when
phosphate is added to ADP (adenosine diphosphate), it forms
ATP.

The driving force that enables this process to occur is the situation
known as chemiosmosis. To put it simply, chemiosmosis is the
movement of ions through a membrane down their
electrochemical gradient. Chemiosmosis is the reason that
production