Year 9 · Science · beta

Plant nutrition and photosynthesis

This unit covers photosynthesis, including how plants produce carbohydrates, absorb water and minerals, and the role of leaf stomata in gas exchange. It highlights the importance of photosynthesis in sustaining life on Earth and explores the adaptations of leaves for photosynthesis.

This is an attributed Oak National Academy lesson sequence, not a completed or academically approved DASKEREL course. Supporting transcripts may depend on video, images, practical equipment or teacher explanation. Follow each lesson’s supervision guidance. For religious education and RSHE, follow the school’s syllabus, policy and safeguarding procedures.

Prior knowledge

  • [Y2] Plants need light and water to grow.
  • [Y3] Plants need air and nutrients from soil to grow.
  • [Y3 & Y4] Plants are producers because they make their own food in their leaves.
  • Cellular respiration is a chemical process that uses glucose from food as a fuel to provide energy for life processes.

Source curriculum references

  • Plants making carbohydrates in their leaves by photosynthesis and gaining mineral nutrients and water from the soil via their roots
  • The role of leaf stomata in gas exchange in plants
  • The reactants in, and products of, photosynthesis, and a word summary for photosynthesis
  • The dependence of almost all life on Earth on the ability of photosynthetic organisms, such as plants and algae, to use sunlight in photosynthesis to build organic molecules that are an essential energy store and to maintain levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
  • The adaptations of leaves for photosynthesis

Oak source metadata. DASKEREL has not independently verified school-level coverage.

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