Explain in your own words how photosynthesis works.
Photosynthesis is the process where plants use sunlight to make their own food. It is something that happens in almost all green plants, from small blades of grass on a lawn to big trees in the forest. Without photosynthesis there would be no life on Earth as we know it, because this is really where all the energy in nature comes from.
When the sunlight hits the leaves, the plant turns the light into energy it can use. This is possible thanks to a green substance called chlorophyll that sits in the leaves. It is the chlorophyll that makes the leaves look green, and it is also what captures the light from the sun.
Then water from the roots gets mixed with carbon dioxide from the air and then sugar is formed that the plant can grow from. So the water comes up from below through the roots, and the carbon dioxide comes from the surrounding air through small openings on the underside of the leaves.
As a by-product the plant releases oxygen into the air, which is lucky for us humans and animals since we need it to be able to breathe.
