INTRODUCTION TO PHOTOSYNTHESIS

Photosynthesis is the process of converting light energy to chemical energy and storing it in the bonds of sugar. This process occurs in plants and some algae (Kingdom Protista). Plants need only light energy, CO2, and H2O to make sugar. The process of photosynthesis takes place in the chloroplasts, specifically using chlorophyll, the green pigment involved in photosynthesis.

It's all powered by the sun!
All those plants and animals - swooping, running, hunting, growing, flying, swimming, sneaking, eating, sniffing, digging, buzzing, chirping, biting, stinging, reproducing, chewing, licking...well, you get the idea....

It's the Mysterious Everythingflowing through it all, through every single one of us! It comes into the food chain as radiant energy from the sun, makes everything happen, get's "used up", and goes out. (The energy doesn't really get used up, it just turns into a form of energy that most living organisms can't use for food - heat.)

This power for life (and everything else), that we call energy, flows into the food chain through our friends the busy plants. The plants do something with that seemingly nothingless energy that seems miraculous. They turn it into food. This is very nice of the plants because animals can't eat sunshine. They can only eat plants or each other.