How do plants use photosynthesis to create their own food and oxygen?

Plants use photosynthesis to make their own food and give off oxygen, like a little kitchen inside each leaf.

Imagine you have a tiny factory in your leaf, that’s what photosynthesis is! The plant uses sunlight, which is like the energy from the sun shining down on it. It also needs water, which comes up from its roots, and carbon dioxide, which is the same gas we breathe out when we exhale.

Inside the leaf, special workers, called chlorophyll, catch the sunlight. They use this energy to turn the water and carbon dioxide into sugar, which is food for the plant. This process also makes oxygen, which the plant lets out through its leaves.

It’s like a bakery that makes cookies (the sugar) and gives you air to breathe (the oxygen). The plant doesn’t need to go anywhere, it just needs sunlight, water, and air to do all this work every day!