A plant does not eat sunlight the way we eat lunch. It uses sunlight as energy to make its own food.
Fun fact: Plants release oxygen while making food using sunlight.
See how leaves use light, water, and carbon dioxide to make sugar through photosynthesis.
How Plants Eat Sunlight
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Its roots take in water, and its leaves take in carbon dioxide from the air. Green material in the leaves captures light.
Fun fact: Chlorophyll reflects much of the green light that reaches it, helping leaves look green.
With light energy, the plant combines water and carbon dioxide to make sugar. This process is called photosynthesis.
Fun fact: Plants can join simple sugars into larger materials such as starch and cellulose.
The plant uses that sugar to grow and releases oxygen into the air. Plants also become food for many animals, connecting sunlight to living things all around us.
Fun fact: Much of the oxygen released during photosynthesis comes from water molecules.