Photosynthesis is the process in which a plant takes energy from the sun, carbon dioxide from the air, and water from its roots and turns it into glucose and oxygen. In this essay I will explain how photosynthesis works, how it is essential for life on earth and why it is as important to us as it is to the plants themselves.

   When light hits the plant’s leaves, it reflects on chloroplasts and into the plant's thylakoid membranes. The membranes have chlorophyll, a green pigment that absorbs light energy, in them. Next, the plant takes the energy from the light and applies it to a process called the Calvin cycle. In the Calvin cycle, carbon atoms are used to build three-carbon sugars (Khan Academy).  The cycle is named after Melvin Calvin, who discovered it. At the end of photosynthesis, a plant ends up with glucose, oxygen and water (Brookshire). 

  Normally, when plants are on land they take in water through the roots, carbon dioxide from the air, and light energy from the sun, and turn it into glucose and oxygen. However, this is different for plants that grow in the oceans. Since they don’t have as much light available to them as plants on lad do, they need to get their nutrients in other ways. ocean plants get help in producing food from microscopic microbes called cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria are microbes that have been living on our earth for billions of years, due to this some scientists believe that they are somewhat responsible for creating the atmosphere we live in nowadays (Ghosh and Mishra). 
However, Photosynthesis doesn’t only help plants.

  While photosynthesis is mostly to help plants, the oxygen that is released into the air benefits people and animals too. However, that is not the only way photosynthesis helps people and animals. Plants make their own food and energy using photosynthesis, but we can’t do the same, so we get our energy from plants like vegetables, or from the meat of an animal who, at one point, has eaten plants (Smithsonian Science Education Center). 

  In conclusion, photosynthesis has a lot of aspects to it and benefits us in more ways than you might think.  

Works Cited 
The Calvin Cycle (Article) | Photosynthesis. www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-biology/cellular-energetics/photosynthesis/a/calvin-cycle. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020. 
Brookshire, Bethany. Explainer: How Photosynthesis Works. 23 Nov. 2020, www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/explainer-how-photosynthesis-works. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020. 
Ghosh, Tonmoy, and Sandhya Mishra. How Does Photosynthesis Take Place in Our Oceans? 7 July 2017, kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2017.00034. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020. 
National Geographic Society, Resource Library. Photosynthesis. 5 Sept. 2019, www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/photosynthesis/. Accessed 16 Dec. 2020. 
Science and Technology Concepts, School. “What is Photosynthesis.” Smithsonian Science Education Center, 27 Mar. 2018, ssec.si.edu/stemvisions-blog/what-photosynthesis. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020. 
Vidyasagar, Aparna. What Is Photosynthesis? 15 Oct. 2018, www.livescience.com/51720-photosynthesis.html. Accessed 13 Dec. 2020.