How Do Plants Get Energy From Sunlight?

Video Transcript

"Hi I'm Stan DeFreitas, Mr. Green Thumb. How do plants produce their own energy through sunlight? Well it goes back to your science class, photosynthesis. Now photo goes back to the Greek word photo meaning light and synthesis just means putting together. Basically the plant builds it's own energy in the foliage. And through that process it actually starts to make sugars, it starts to make carbohydrates in the leaf. You know about carbohydrates, you're eating foods, much of your food is carbohydrate. The plant can create it's own carbohydrate through the miracle of photosynthesis. It's a long chemical process that's developed with proteins and oxygen and hydrogen in the leaf that actually makes simple sugars and stores them either in the root system or in the stem of the plant. Eventually it accumulates and of course the plant can use that energy to make flowers or more foliage. Photosynthesis is important not just for you and I because it helps to give us oxygen in the process and it takes in carbon dioxide. It's one of the reasons that plants really do such a tremendous job in the environment. For askmrgreenthumb.com, I'm Stan DeFreitas."