Leaves: The Food

Factory

Leaves: The Food Factory

Most of the job of photosynthesis is
done in the leaves of green plants.
Sunlight enters the leaf through its
transparent skin called cuticle. Beneath
this skin are the millions of cells filled with
water and living jelly called protoplasm.
Inside the cells are small green packages
called chloroplasts. They are green
because they contain a green pigment
called chlorophyll.

a. Chlorophyll is the only substance in the world

that can capture sunlight, absorbing the blue
and red light to form an energy-rich
substance called ATP (adenosine
triphosphate).
b.Green light is not utilized, so it is reflected
back. That explains why chlorophyll is green.
A green object such as a leaf
reflects only those wavelengths that
create the visual effect of green.
Other colors in the light are
absorbed by the leaf.

Photosynthesis: Food Making in

Plant
1.2 In
made
xylem,
where

the leaves are veins and venules which are

up of bundles of microscopic tubes, called
connecting each leaf to the roots of the plant,
water is absorbed from the soil.

1.3 Air also enters the leaf through the tiny openings
called stomata.

1.4

In the leaf, the chlorophyll absorbs sunlight and

releases energy that

a. splits water molecules into hydrogen and

oxygen;
b. produces the energy-rich molecules of ATP;
and
c. causes a chain of reactions that leaves
chlorophyll with the same energy it had
in the
beginning of the cycle, ready to
start the cycle
all over again.

Leaves: The Food Factory

1.5 The hydrogen, ATP, and the carbon dioxide from
the
air are then chemically combined to produce
initially simple sugar, which is then converted to
sucrose, starch, protein, fats, vitamins, cellulose, and
other plant materials. Sucrose is utilized by the plant for
its own nourishment. It passes through another
bundle of microscopic tubes called phloem, and
distributed to all the cells of the plant.

Leaves: The Food Factory

Photosynthesis is more complex than simple.
However, it can be oversimplified by the following
diagram called a chemical equation,

sunlight
6 H2O + 6 CO2 ------>

C6H12O6 + 6 O2

which reads: 6 parts water reacts with 6 parts carbon

dioxide in sunlight to yield 1 part simple sugar
plus 6 parts oxygen gas.

Leaves: The Food Factory

Oxygen
is
the
by
product
of
photosynthesis. Since oxygen needed
only at night for the respiration of plants,
it is released by the plants to the
atmosphere for the respiration of animals.
The amount of oxygen generated
during photosynthesis indicates the speed
at which the reaction takes place.

Leaves are green because

the chlorophyll in the leaf
reflects green light. We see
an object by the kind of
light it reflects

Values Infusion:

We tend to see people in the same

way, and judge them wrongly. That's
what
racial
discrimination
is
all
about...it is about the color of the
A change in color is an indication of a
skin.
chemical reaction, as in the case of the
blue-black reaction of starch with
iodine.
People
have
certain
color
changes that indicate a reaction to a
stimulus. When you tell a lie or become
angry, your face turns red. When you
are nervous or frightened, your face
turns pale. These are body languages
that we cannot control. They reveal your

Values Infusion:
Without green plants, there can be no
oxygen. Without oxygen, there can be no life on
this planet. Is this not enough reason to protect
the plants and save our rainforests?
Sunshine is the energy needed by plants for
photosynthesis. When to tell someone that he
or she is the sunshine of your life, you mean
that he or she is the source of your energy and
joy. Isn't it rewarding if you are the sunshine in
the lives of people around you?

Evaluation

Multiple Choice Test. Choose the correct answer.

1. Most of the job of photosynthesis is done in the

leaves of green
plants. Sunlight enters the leaf
through its transparent skin called
a) epidermis
b) dermis.
c) cuticle
d) stomata
2. Because green plants can produce food for their own
nourishment, they are called autotrophs. The nutrients
are distributed to all cells of the plant by a bundle of
microscopic tubes called
a) xylem.
b) phloem.
c) veins.
d) capillaries.

3.
Only green plants can perform photosynthesis
because of their chlorophyll, which is the only
substance that can capture sunlight to form adenosine
triphosphate (ATP), an energy-rich molecule. What is
the role of ATP in photosynthesis?
a)
It provides the energy needed to combine
hydrogen from
the water and carbon dioxide to
form simple sugar.
b) It is the energy used by the chlorophyll to split
water into
hydrogen and oxygen.
c) It provides energy for the leaf to change simple
sugar to
sucrose and other nutrients.
d) It converts sunlight to chemical energy.

4. Iodine was dropped on a leaf that was boiled first in

alcohol and
then in water. The light green leaf turned
dark blue. What can you infer from this observation?
A. There is simple sugar in the leaf.
B. There is starch in the leaf.
C. Photosynthesis took place in the leaf before
it was
boiled in water and alcohol.
D. A chemical reaction took place when iodine
was
added to the leaf.
A only b) C only c) B and C d) B, C and D

5. In the leaves are veins and venules which

are made up of bundles of microscopic
tubes, called xylem. What is the function of
xylem in photosynthesis?
a) It is the passage of water and dissolved
minerals from the
roots to the leaves.
b) It is where the products of photosynthesis are
distributed to all the parts of the plant.
c) It is in these tubes where food and water are
flowing throughout the plant.
d) None of these.