Photosynthesis: how plants make food from light, water and air
Grade 7 Science Worksheet

Circle the best answer.
Ari moves a bean plant into a dark closet for two days. What happens to the sugar its leaves make?
- More sugar, because the plant has more time to rest
- The same amount, because the water brings the energy
- Less sugar is made, because light energy powers photosynthesis
- The same amount, because the plant still gets its food from the soil
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Use this
Investigation card (model data). Question: does the distance from a lamp change how fast a water plant gives off bubbles? Changed: distance from an LED desk lamp. Measured: bubbles counted in one minute. Kept the same: plant, jar, water, lamp, counting time. Results table: Distance (cm) | Bubbles per minute: 10 | 24; 20 | 13; 30 | 6.
Jun’s class tested a water plant under a lamp. What did the class change on purpose?
- The distance from the lamp
- The number of bubbles each minute
- The amount of water in the jar
- The kind of water plant
Kira’s class tested a water plant under a lamp. What gas do the bubbles show?
- Oxygen given off as the plant makes sugar
- Carbon dioxide given off as the plant makes sugar
- Steam made by the lamp warming the water
- Air the plant took in from the water
Luz’s class tested a water plant under a lamp. Which conclusion fits the data?
- The distance made no difference to the plant
- Closer to the lamp, the plant takes in more oxygen from the air
- More light, with the lamp closer, means faster photosynthesis
- The plant gives off the most gas far from the lamp
Milo plants a bean seed, and it grows into a plant many times heavier. Where does most of the new mass come from?
Leaf arrow diagram, not to scale. Boxes: Sun, leaf (green cells with chloroplasts), air, roots and stem, rest of the plant. Arrows: Sun to leaf; roots and stem to leaf; air to leaf; leaf to air; leaf to rest of the plant. Every arrow is labeled. Leaf arrow diagram, not to scale. Boxes: Sun, leaf (green cells with chloroplasts), air, roots and stem, rest of the plant. Arrows: Sun to leaf; roots and stem to leaf; air to leaf; leaf to air; leaf to rest of the plant. Every arrow is labeled. light energy water carbon dioxide oxygen sugar Sun leaf (green cells with chloroplasts) air roots and stem rest of the plant - From sunlight, which turns into plant material
- From the soil, which the roots take in
- From carbon dioxide in the air, built into sugar
- From water alone, which turns into stems and leaves
Data card (model data)
Dry soil in the pot, start 2,000 g, after eight weeks 1,995 g. Sunflower: start 10 g, after eight weeks 300 g.
Noah’s class grew a sunflower in a pot for eight weeks and weighed the dry soil before and after. What does the soil data show?
- The plant gave some of its mass to the soil
- Most of the plant’s new mass did not come from the soil
- The light itself turned into most of the plant’s new mass
- The plant’s new mass came from the soil
Leaf arrow diagram, not to scale. Boxes: Sun, leaf (green cells with chloroplasts), air, roots and stem, rest of the plant. Arrows: Sun to leaf; roots and stem to leaf; air to leaf; leaf to air; leaf to rest of the plant. Every arrow is labeled. Leaf arrow diagram, not to scale. Boxes: Sun, leaf (green cells with chloroplasts), air, roots and stem, rest of the plant. Arrows: Sun to leaf; roots and stem to leaf; air to leaf; leaf to air; leaf to rest of the plant. Every arrow is labeled. light energy water carbon dioxide oxygen sugar Sun leaf (green cells with chloroplasts) air roots and stem rest of the plant Pia reads that sugar is built partly from carbon. Which input gives the plant the carbon in its sugar?
- Light energy from the Sun
- Carbon dioxide from the air
- Minerals in the soil
- Water from the roots
Ren sorts the arrows on a leaf diagram. Which arrow carries energy but no matter?
Use the picture in question 7.
- The sugar arrow to the rest of the plant
- The carbon dioxide arrow from the air
- The light arrow from the Sun
- The water arrow from the roots and stem
Tala asks where the light energy goes after a leaf makes sugar. Which answer is right?
Use the picture in question 7.
- It is stored as chemical energy in the sugar
- It is gone, since light leaves the leaf unchanged
- It has turned into the sugar’s matter
- It is stored in the oxygen given off
Zee makes a list of the matter in photosynthesis, leaving out energy. Which list is right?
Use the picture in question 7.
- Light, sugar and oxygen
- Water, carbon dioxide, sugar and oxygen
- Heat, light and sugar
- Light, water and carbon dioxide