Hello there, welcome to my home, the forest!Would you like to learn how I get food when I am hungry?
Ok, great I would love to tell you! The way I make my food is through a process called Photosynthesis.See the sun up there in the sky? The sunlight that shines down is absorbed by the pigment chlorophyll, a green substance found in chloroplasts. This is the compound that traps the sun's light. This is the first stage, which is also called the Light Dependent Stage.Pretty cool, huh? But wait, there is more!
The second stage is up next... this is also known as the light independent stage.The light energy that I absorb, is used to convert carbon dioxide that comes from the air, and water that comes from the soil into a sugar called glucose. Oxygen is released as a by-product.
On my leaves, you will find tiny pores that are called stomata. Stomata control the transpiration of water vapor and the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen.
In addition to converting carbon dioxide, the absorbed light energy also converts the water molecules from the soil and causes them to split separating the hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The oxygen is then released into the atmosphere. Next, is the best part... the hydrogen atoms combine with carbon dioxide to make a sugar that I can use for food! Yummy!!
And, there you have it! It sounds like a complicated process, but it really isn't. I hope you learned a lot today on how I get my food!