Bite Sized Botany: Photosynthesis

It's officially summer. The sun is out and shining bright. Some of us are cursing it and hiding in what little shade we can find. Others are out soaking it up. But no one enjoys the extra sunshine like the plants do. So just what do the plants do with all that sun? The answer, as most of us know, is photosynthesis. But what does that mean?

Photosynthesis is when plants draw in the light energy from the sun and convert it to chemical energy. The chemical energy is then stored in carbohydrate molecules (namely sugars), which the plant makes from carbon dioxide (that stuff we breathe out as a byproduct of cell respiration - but that's another story) and water. Later, the plants release the energy as fuel. Kind of like when we burn off the energy from the food we eat in order to run, swim, climb - or whatever it is we like to do. Food is our fuel, and the sun is fuel for plants and their many plant-y activities. Like being leafy and whispering taunts at humans when they're not looking.*

In most cases, oxygen gets released as a byproduct of photosynthesis. (We've all heard about how plants create the oxygen we need to breathe; this is how.) This process of photosynthesis is very important - not just for the plant's own survival, but for ours as well. Plants are responsible for most of the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere.

So the next time you hiss at the sun and wrap yourself in a cloak of darkness, or retreat indoors to your internet, remember just how vital the sun is to plants and how vital the plants are to us. Without plant life, and without the process of photosynthesis, we would cease to exist.

Happy photosynthesizing!
- Your Friendly Neighborhood Plant Scientist

*Really hoping I don't need to say this, but plants do not taunt humans... as far as we know.