Answer Key: The Leaf Food Factory (Photosynthesis)

Almost everyone eats some plants. Plants include fruits, vegetables, and also grains like rice and pasta. Even Cheetos are made of plants (specifically corn).

Yes, plants are living things. They move (through growth), respire, sense their environment, grow, reproduce, excrete, and nourish themselves.

The purpose of this question at the beginning of the lesson is to hear your guesses! The answer will be revealed in The Leaf Food Factory.

Example: Most leaves are green, but we’ve seen yellow, red, orange, and brown leaves (especially during fall or when a plant is dying).

Example: Since most leaves are green, you might think that chlorophyll is green. We are going to extract chlorophyll from leaves in this experiment and see.

The rubbing alcohol should have turned bright green.

Chlorophyll is green. That is why many leaves are green, and also why the rubbing alcohol in this experiment turned bright green.

Leaves need sunlight in order to make chlorophyll. It is a pigment that they make during photosynthesis. That is why some trees lose their green color in the fall before dropping them in the winter. There is not enough sunlight for them to do photosynthesis or make chlorophyll.