Mission 2 of 16

Photosynthesis & Plant Energy

📋 What it is

Plants make their own food from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide — releasing oxygen.

🗣️ Coach says

Plants are food factories. In photosynthesis, leaves use sunlight to combine water (from roots) and carbon dioxide (from air) into sugar — the plant’s food — and release oxygen as a bonus. So plants don’t eat; they COOK their own meals using the Sun.

🧠 Memory hook

Sunlight + water + CO₂ → sugar (food) + oxygen. Plants cook with sunlight.

😂 Giggle

The gardener quit because his celery wasn't high enough.

😲 Whoa!

The oxygen in about every second breath you take was made by ocean algae doing photosynthesis — plants (and algae) keep us breathing.

✅ Quick check: What does a plant produce in photosynthesis besides food (sugar)?

Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.

🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)

Feel a leaf in sunlight. Inside, it’s combining sunlight, water, and air into food right now.

⭐ Do the round to earn your star →

🤸 Brain break: Sun-to-sugar: reach up to “catch sunlight”, then bring hands to your belly — “now it’s food.”