The Secret of Life

1
All living things need food.
Some animals eat plants,
some eat other animals –
and some eat both.
Food contains the chemical energy
the body uses

to do things –
like run, think and grow.
Trees and other
plants don’t eat
food.

Where do they
get the chemical
energy they need
to live and grow?
the process plants use to make food
Plants use water, carbon dioxide and sunlight

AIR

SUNLIGHT

WATER

to make a sugar called glucose,

which contains the chemical energy they need.
 •

Water gets to the leaves via the roots.

•
 Plant Cell
 •
Sunlight energy hits the chlorophyll found in the cells which
splits the water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.
In the process, the carbon dioxide molecules are split
•
into carbon and oxygen atoms.
The atoms from these raw materials recombine to form
6 Carbon 6 Water a glucose molecule:
Dioxide

1 glucose

6 oxygen

The carbon atoms form a chain with

hydrogen and oxygen atoms attached to it.
The products of photosynthesis are glucose and oxygen.

Oxygen Bubbles 

Oxygen molecules not needed to build glucose are

released into the air.
This adds oxygen to the air we breathe.
The photosynthesis equation is:
In photosynthesis light energy is transformed
into chemical energy in the form of glucose.

Light Energy Photosynthesis Chemical Energy

The glucose molecules formed during

photosynthesis store the chemical energy that
plants need to grow, bloom, and produce fruit.
the process plants use to release energy
stored in glucose molecules
Photosynthesis

Respiration
 •
When oxygen combines with glucose
it splits apart and energy is released

water

carbon
dioxide

– and what’ s left is:

carbon dioxide and water.
Plants respire during the day and at night.
 •

The energy released when glucose breaks down

into water and carbon dioxide is the energy
plants use to grow and repair themselves.