Plant Nutrition — Revision notes

Producer

An organism (such as a plant) that makes its own food rather than consuming other organisms

Consumer

An organism that gets its food by eating other organisms

Secondary consumer

The second consumer in a food chain, which eats a primary consumer — for example, a human eating a cow that ate grass

Photosynthesis

The chemical process where plants combine carbon dioxide, water, and light energy to build glucose

Carbohydrate

The specific type of food (glucose/sugars) that plants produce for energy and growth

Cellular respiration

The process plants use to break down their carbohydrate food to release stored energy

Minerals

Nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium absorbed from the soil (often mistaken for "plant food," but act more like vitamins for health rather than an energy source)

What this lesson covers

How well do you know each one? Be honest: red means go back over it.

• Explain what a producer is and why plants sit at the start of every food chainNot yetSort ofGot it
• Define food and explain why water and minerals do not count as foodNot yetSort ofGot it
• Name the four things plants take in and say what each is used forNot yetSort ofGot it
• Explain how photosynthesis produces glucoseNot yetSort ofGot it
• Describe the two uses a plant makes of glucose — energy and building materialsNot yetSort ofGot it
• Explain why all life on Earth depends on producersNot yetSort ofGot it

Test yourself

Cover the answer, say it out loud, then check the full quiz on the lesson page.

• Which of these statements about plants is correct?
• An organism that makes its own food is called what?
• Plants make their own food. This food is a type of what?

Topic quiz

14 questions on this topic only — not mixed with anything else, one at a time.

Spelling challenge

Read the definition, then type the correct spelling of the term. Uses the same terms as above.