Video narration
How does a houseplant beside a sunny window grow without eating food like an animal? Look closely at its leaves. Each leaf is like a tiny food factory, taking in sunlight and carbon dioxide from the air, while water travels up from the roots. This is photosynthesis: light energy drives a change that turns water and carbon dioxide into glucose, a sugar the plant can use to grow or store. Oxygen is released into the air. And here's the important correction: the soil is not the plant's food. Soil mainly supplies water and minerals-the raw materials and support the plant needs. The actual food is made inside the leaf. So when you see that houseplant growing by the window, remember what is really happening: it is making its own food without eating. Sunlight helps its leaves turn water and carbon dioxide into glucose, while releasing oxygen.