Photosynthesis Notes Directions: Check the box as you complete each

task below!

How Do Living Things Get Energy from the Sun? Read & annotate today's notes.
Like the raw materials used within a cell, energy used by living
Using the reading, describe why every
things comes from their environment. Zebra meat supplies the living thing needs producers to do
lion’s cells with energy. Similarly, grass provides the zebra’s photosynthesis.
__________ producers create the food
cells with energy. But where does the energy in the grass come from? Plants and certain other
that all other organisms eat __________
organisms, such as algae and some bacteria, use the energy in sunlight to make their own food.
_________________________________
The Sun as an Energy Source Describe the similarities & differences in
how producers and consumers obtain
The process by which a cell captures energy in sunlight and uses it to make food is called photosynthesis. their energy.
Nearly all living things obtain energy, either directly or indirectly, from the energy of sunlight that is Similarities:
captured during photosynthesis. Grass obtains energy directly from sunlight because grass makes its own __ both need to get it from somewhere _
Differences:
food during photosynthesis. When the zebra eats grass, it gets energy from the sun that has been stored in
__producers get energy to make food
the grass. Similarly, the lion obtains energy stored in the zebra. from the sun, then convert it to energy
they can use. Consumers get food from
Producers & Consumers
eating plants (producers) or animals that
Plants make their own food through the process of photosynthesis. An organism that makes its own food eat plants, then convert it to energy they
can use.
is called a producer, or an autotroph. An organism that cannot make its own food, including animals such
What is Chlorophyll? __ a green
as the zebra and the lion, is called a consumer, or a heterotroph. All heterotrophs obtain food from other substance found in chloroplasts that
organisms. collects the energy from the sun.________

Photosynthesis Step 1: Capture Sunlight Describe Chloroplasts on page 3.

During photosynthesis, plants, and some other organisms, absorb energy from the sun to convert carbon
dioxide and water into sugars (glucose) and oxygen. Sunlight energy is captured by green chlorophyll,
Where do Chloroplasts get the water they
which is inside the chloroplasts of the leaves. Chloroplasts are organelles found only in plants and this is need? _____ from vacuoles _______
the location for photosynthesis to occur. Water moves from the vacuoles into the chloroplast, and it is ___________________________________
split into hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen is given off as a waste product, so you breathe plant waste.

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The oxygen exits the plant through small openings on the underside of the leaves, called stoma or stomata
(plural). Stomata and other plant structures keep their rigid shape because of a cell wall. The cell wall is
Use the vocabulary words chlorophyll,
an organelle that acts like a skeleton and provides structure to the plant. Most of the oxygen in Earth’s photosynthesis, and autotroph as you
atmosphere is produced by plants through the process of photosynthesis. summarize the 1st step of photosynthesis.
___ autotrophs collect energy from the sun
using the chlorophyll in the chloroplasts to
start the process of photosynthesis
_____________________________________

How does carbon dioxide enter the plant?

____ from the stomata, which are little
openings in the leaves. ______________
Describe cell wall on page 3.

Use the vocabulary words chloroplast,

glucose, and oxygen as you summarize the
2nd step of photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis Step 2: Make food ___ In step 1, sunlight is used to break
Cells use hydrogen (H) that came from the splitting of water in Step 1 and carbon dioxide (CO2) from the down water and in step 2, these
compounds are used to create glucose
air. Carbon dioxide enters the plant through many stomata and moves into the chloroplasts. Using the
___________________________________
energy captured by chlorophyll in Step 1, hydrogen and carbon dioxide undergo chemical reactions to
create sugar, or glucose (C6H12O6), for the cells to use. What is the main difference between the
1st and 2nd step of photosynthesis?
The Photosynthesis Equation
___ In step 1, sunlight is used to break
Light energy from the sun is changed into chemical energy using this equation: down water and in step 2, these
compounds are used to create glucose
________________________________
Using your reading, fill in the blanks for
the photosynthesis equation below.

CO2 + H2O + Light E C6H12O6 + O2

 The sugar (glucose) that is produced through photosynthesis store this chemical energy until the What type of energy is created during
plant needs it. Animals also use this stored chemical energy when they eat plants. The carbon photosynthesis? _________________
dioxide, water and light energy are the reactants of the equation. They are reacting, or changing, to ___ stored chemical energy _________
create something new. The products of the reaction are the sugar and oxygen. The products are Go back to the last page and put a circle
produced, or made, during the reaction around the reactants and a box around the
products of the photosynthesis reaction.

Cell Organelles for Photosynthesis

Organelle Describe where it is found. Describe the function (job).

Name
Chloroplast Only in Plants. Scattered To make food.
around the cytoplasm.
Cell Wall Only in Plants. Structural support, like a
Around the outside of the skeleton.
cell membrane.