PHOTOSYNTHESIS WEBQUEST

Introduction | Tasks | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion

 

In photosynthesis, the plant uses sunlight, water, and CO2 to make glucose and oxygen. This is summarized in the formula for photosynthesis:

CO2 + H2O + Sunlight – C6H12O6 + O2

Another way of saying this is: Carbon dioxide (the air we exhale) and water are combined with sunlight energy to create sugar and oxygen. The plant gets the water and carbon dioxide from the environment, and then create sugar and oxygen which can be used by other organisms, such as people.

Photosynthesis takes place in two steps:

Step 1: The light reaction (happens on the thylakoid membrane).

  • Sunlight is captured by chloroplyll
  • The energy from sunlight is used to split water. The water is split into Oxygen and hydrogen.
    • The oxygen is released into the air for us to breath.
    • The hydrogen is further split into a proton (H+) and an electron.
  • The electron is used to make ATP energy and NADP
  • ATP, NADP, and H+ are used in the dark reaction (the Calvin cycle)

Step 2: The Calvin cycle (happens in the stroma)

  • The plant takes CO2 out of the air
  • The CO2 is combined with H+ to make sugar (C6H12O6 )

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