Video narration
Where does your houseplant get its food if it never eats like an animal? It sits by the window, takes in water through its roots, and catches light with its leaves. But sunlight isn't the food. It's the energy that lets the plant make food. From the air, its leaves take in carbon dioxide; from its roots comes water. Using light energy, the plant combines these ingredients to make sugars. That process is photosynthesis: the way a green plant makes its own food. The sugars fuel the plant's activities and help it grow, including making new leaves. And oxygen is released into the air as part of the process. Soil also supplies minerals, but it isn't where your houseplant gets its sugar. Your houseplant makes sugar from carbon dioxide in the air and water, powered by sunlight-and releases oxygen.