Name __________________________________ Date ________________
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
Green leaves are food factories. Along with energy from sunlight, they take in raw materials
from the air and soil and use those materials to make food. The work takes place in the
chloroplasts—the organelles that give leaves their color. The food then travels throughout the plant.
The diagram below explains the process of photosynthesis. The numbers on the diagram refer
to the numbered blanks in the sentences on the next page. Use the words at the bottom of the
diagram to fill in the blanks and complete the sentences.
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Carbon dioxide
Chlorophyll
Chloroplasts
Minerals
Go on to the next page.
Oxygen
Phloem
Stomata
Sugar (Glucose)
Sunlight
Water
Name __________________________________ Date ________________
PHOTOSYNTHESIS, P. 2
1. _________________ and _________________ enter the plant through its roots. They flow
through the plant in tubes called xylem and enter cells that make food.
2. _________________ strikes the leaves’ surface, passing through to the organelles called
__________________________________.
3. The green pigment in the chloroplasts, called ___________________________, stores the Sun’s
energy. It uses the energy to break down water into hydrogen and oxygen.
4. _________________ is then given off as a waste gas through holes in the leaves, called
_________________.
5. _____________________________ from the air enters the leaves through the stomata. It
combines with hydrogen to make _________________, which is the plant’s food.
6. The food moves through tubes called _________________ to all parts of the plant. The plant
uses some of the food to stay alive, and it stores the rest.
Answer these questions.
7. Why is the waste gas the green plants give off during photosynthesis important to us?
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____________________________________________________________________________
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8. Why is the ability of green plants to make food important to other kinds of living things?
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Photosynthesis
Answer Key
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Water, minerals
Sunlight, chloroplasts
chlorophyll
Oxygen, stomata
Carbon dioxide, sugar
phloem
The waste is oxygen, which people and animals need to breathe.
Green plants are the only living things that can make their own food.
Animals and people get food by eating green plants or by eating other
animals that have eaten green plants.
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