Photosynthesis — How Plants Make Food (for 7-year-olds)

Plants are like little chefs that make their own food. They use sunlight, water, and a gas from the air called carbon dioxide to cook a sweet food called sugar. While they make food, they also make oxygen, which we breathe.

Think of a plant like a kitchen

• The leaf is the kitchen where the cooking happens.
• Chlorophyll (the green stuff) is like the plant's green apron or solar panel that catches sunlight.
• Roots bring water from the soil like a sink that pours water into the kitchen.
• Tiny holes on the leaves called stomata are like little mouths that let air (carbon dioxide) in and let oxygen out.

Step-by-step (easy)

1. Sunlight shines on the leaf.
2. Roots send up water into the leaf.
3. The leaf takes in carbon dioxide from the air through tiny holes.
4. Inside the leaf, the green chlorophyll uses the sunlight to mix water and carbon dioxide and makes sugar (food) and oxygen (a gas).
5. The plant uses the sugar to grow and stay healthy. The oxygen goes into the air for animals and people to breathe.

In simple words: sunlight + water + carbon dioxide -> sugar (food) + oxygen.

Why is photosynthesis important?

• It makes food for the plant so it can grow.
• It makes oxygen that people and animals need to breathe.
• It is the reason plants are so helpful to life on Earth.

Fun, safe activity (ask an adult to help)

Draw two pictures of the same plant. For the first picture, draw big yellow sunbeams shining on the leaves and many water drops going up from the soil. For the second picture, draw the plant with no sun. After a few days, look at a real plant that gets sunshine and one that is kept in the dark (for a short time). The sunny plant will look healthier and greener. This shows how much plants need sunlight to make food.

Quick true or false quiz

• Plants make their own food. (True)
• Plants breathe out carbon dioxide for us to use. (False — they give out oxygen for us to use)
• Sunlight helps plants make food. (True)

If you want, try drawing the steps of photosynthesis like a little comic: roots bring water, leaves catch sun, tiny mouths suck air, and food and oxygen come out. That helps remember the whole process!