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Plants Release oxygen

Experiment- A

Light two candles. Cover one of the burning candles with bell jar. Observe the candles. What happens after continues to burn. The candle inside the bottle goes out. This is because the candle has used up all the oxygen in the bottle. Without oxygen it cannot burn.  

Experiment – B

Light two candles. Keep a plant close to one of the candles. Cover each of the candles with a bell jar and observe the candles for a few minutes. Plant candle is burn more some time. It’s burnt more than that empty candle.

Plants Store Food in the Form of Starch

Experiment – A

Put a few drops of iodine in a starch solution like kanji (rice water).

The solution will turns deep blue. Take a small piece of potato. Peel it. Put a few drops of iodine on it. It turns deep blue. This shows that potatoes stored food in the form of starch.

 Experiment – B

Repeat the experiment using pieces of other vegetables like yam (suran), raw banana and pumpkin. You will be able to find which of this store food in the form of starch.

Plants Need Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide

You have learnt that plants need carbon dioxide to make food. Plants also need oxygen to stay alive. The oxygen produce when the plant is making food is more than what the plant needs. The unused oxygen is released to the atmosphere. 

Plants Make Food

A plant makes food in its leaves.

The process of plants making food in the leaves is called photosynthesis. `Photo’ means `light’ and syntheses is’ means combining to make a new thing. Carbon dioxide and water combine to make food with the help of light energy.

Plants make or produce their own food. Plants are therefore, called producers.