Unit 1: ( Photosynthesis and carbon cycle)

1.1 Photosynthesis
Grade 8 –Week 1
 The SUN!!!

The sun is the number

one source of energy.

Plants and algae use

energy from sunlight to
grow and make their own
energy.

How do they do this?

 By a process called photosynthesis.
Photo-synthesis: “putting together with light”

+ +

So when a plant combines the energy

from sunlight with water and carbon
dioxide from the air, it gets energy!
 Photosynthesis has a specific reaction that
happens every time.

O O
O
C


O
+ O
+ O O
O C O

C O O
O

Breathe out Breathe in

Liquid + Gas  Gas + Solid

(sugar)

The reaction needs energy from the sun to take place!

The chemical reation of photosynthesis is…

6H2O + 6CO2 + light energy C6H12O6 + 6O2

Plants take in carbon dioxide and release
oxygen.
Think about
what
photosynthesis
is… what part
of the plant do
you think it
takes place?
Photosynthesis happens in the leaves of the plant!

We take in oxygen
by breathing. How
does carbon dioxide
get into the leaves
of the plants?

The stomata!
small openings in the
leaves of the plant.
Leaves have special
parts called
chloroplasts!

Inside each
chloroplast is where
the photosynthesis
reaction takes place.
O O
Why don’t we get energy from sunlight when we
spend time outside??

Chloroplasts in plants
have a molecule called
chlorophyll that has
the ability to absorb
the energy from
sunlight.
 Chlorophyll is a pigment
A pigment is a light absorbing molecule.

Chlorophyll is what
gives leaves their
green color.
If plants get their energy from sunlight, how do
they survive at night?

Photosynthesis has 2 parts, one that takes place in

light and one that takes place in dark.
 Light Reactions
The “photo” part!

LIGHT WATER
Purpose: to take
sunlight and turn it
LIGHT into chemical
REACTIONS energy (ATP)

Needs chlorophyll!
ATP OXYGEN
 H2O CO2
Chloroplast
Light

Light ATP Calvin

Reactions Cycle

Sugar
O2 (Glucose)
 Sunlight CO2
Chloroplast

1. Light Reaction 2. Dark Reaction

(Calvin Cycle)
Need: Light / H2O
Need: CO2 / ATP
Produces: ATP / O2
Produces: Glucose
Purpose:
Purpose: Use CO2 and
Sunlight ATP
ATP to make glucose
O2
H2O
Looking at
chlorophyll…

Leaf Chromatogra
phy!
How do we know
that photosynthesis
takes place?
1. Think like a scientist :
Collecting the gas produced in photosynthesis -Activity –L.B Page 10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RBl3xqnCrc
Answers :
1. So that the gas could be collected over water.
2. So that the water plant could get energy for photosynthesis.

2. Think like a scientist : page 12

Investigating how light intensity affects the rate of photosynthesis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6FiSi3fASw
Answers :
3. decreases .
4. increases.
Like photosynthesis, cellular respiration has a specific
chemical reaction that happens every time.

+ 
We breathe in oxygen and We breathe out
get glucose from our food carbon dioxide

O2 + C6H12O6  CO2 + H2O + Energy (ATP)

(reactants) (products)
Why is photosynthesis important ?
Learner’s Book Answers :
Getting started : page 8 .
1.The plant that has light is taller and greener than the one kept in the dark.
2. Leaves of the plant in the light are broader and more numerous, and the stems are
thicker.
3. The plants make food by photosynthesis, and cannot do this in the dark, so they do not
have enough ‘food’ to be able to grow well.
4. Chlorophyll is what makes plants look green, and that this is used to absorb energy
from light. With no light, the plant does not make chlorophyll.
Activity 1.1.1: Words beginning with photo
Page 9
Easy words include: photograph, photography, photographer, photographing, photocopier,
photocopying and photocopy.
photostat and photogenic, photon, photophobia, photocell and photo finish.
Learner’s Book Answers :
Questions 1-4 : page 9 & 14
1 . carbon dioxide and water .
2. glucose and oxygen .
3. Photosynthesis transfers energy from sunlight into chemical energy
in glucose. The plant can use the glucose to make other substances.
When the grasshopper eats grass, it takes in some of this energy. The
lizard gets some of the energy when it eats the grasshopper.
4 . Plants release oxygen into the air when they photosynthesis.
Animals such as lizards need oxygen for respiration.
Activity: Photosynthesis and respiration Similarities: Page 13
They are both chemical reactions. They both happen inside cells. They both involve energy
changes (energy transfers). They both involve glucose, oxygen, carbon dioxide and water.
Differences: Respiration happens in all living cells, but photosynthesis only happens in some
plant cells.
Respiration happens in cytoplasm and mitochondria, but photosynthesis happens in
chloroplasts. Photosynthesis needs sunlight, but respiration does not. The reactants in
respiration are the products in photosynthesis, and vice versa. In photosynthesis, energy
from sunlight is transferred to chemical energy in glucose. In respiration, energy in glucose
is released for the cell to use.
Workbook answers :Page 2-8
6.Plants photosynthesis fastest in white light; photosynthesis happens faster in blue
light than in green light.