Best for
Plant biology, ecosystems, food webs, and any lesson where students need to move from memorising the equation to explaining why the process matters.
Science • Years 5-9 • Plant systems and energy
Photosynthesis Inquiry
Use this handout to help ākonga explain how plants make food, why oxygen production matters, and how photosynthesis supports food webs, forests, gardens, and life in Aotearoa.
Free plant-science scaffold, premium adaptation path
This handout is print-ready now. If you want it rewritten around school-garden data, ngahere observation, or a younger reading level, Te Wānanga can adapt the prompts while keeping the science concepts intact.
- Swap in a local plant investigation or māra kai example.
- Generate a more scaffolded junior version or a more technical senior explanation task.
- Save the adapted copy to My Kete and refine it later in Creation Studio.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 35-50 minutes.
- Grouping: Shared explanation first, then pairs or individuals complete the table and diagram.
- Prep: Optional leaf sample, plant diagram, or prior food-web learning.
- Teaching move: Keep asking where each ingredient comes from and why the process matters beyond the plant itself.
Resources already provided
- Process reading card
- Ingredient and product breakdown
- Cause-and-effect table
- Diagram labelling space
- Support, core, and stretch prompts
- Teacher-only curriculum companion
If the lesson mentions a plant-process diagram, response space, or explanation scaffold, those materials are already here.
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning how plants make food through photosynthesis.
- We are learning how to identify the inputs and outputs of the process.
- We are learning why photosynthesis matters for ecosystems and life in Aotearoa.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can name the main ingredients needed for photosynthesis.
- I can explain what glucose and oxygen are used for.
- I can connect photosynthesis to a food web, garden, ngahere, or wider ecosystem.
Curriculum integration / Te Mātaiaho alignment
Use the companion page to connect this handout to plant systems, causal explanation, and Aotearoa ecosystem learning.
Science in an Aotearoa context
Photosynthesis matters in school gardens, ngahere, wetlands, and farms across Aotearoa. It is the process that helps plants grow, stores energy in food, and releases oxygen into the air we breathe.
Mātauranga Māori can deepen this topic by keeping the conversation connected to maramataka, seasonal noticing, and relationships between plants, people, and place, while the science focus stays on the biological process itself.
Read the process
Photosynthesis is the process plants use to make glucose, a type of sugar that stores energy. The ingredients are water from the soil, carbon dioxide from the air, and light energy from the sun. Inside leaf cells, chlorophyll helps capture that light energy.
Using that energy, plants rearrange the ingredients to make glucose and oxygen. The glucose can be used straight away or stored for later growth. The oxygen is released into the air. This is why photosynthesis matters far beyond one plant. It helps power food chains and supports the air many living things depend on.
What goes in and what comes out?
Sunlight
Provides the energy that drives the process.
Water
Comes up through the roots and into the plant.
Carbon dioxide
Enters through tiny pores in the leaves.
Glucose
The plant's food and stored energy source.
Oxygen
Released back into the atmosphere.
Chlorophyll
Helps capture sunlight in green plant cells.
Cause-and-effect table
| If this ingredient is missing... | What changes in the process? | What could happen to the plant? |
|---|---|---|
| Very little sunlight | ||
| Very little water | ||
| Damaged leaves |
Label and explain
My explanation
Explain why photosynthesis matters to more than just the plant. Use one example from a food web, māra kai, ngahere, or wider ecosystem.
Plant process sketch
Draw a simple leaf or plant diagram and label where water enters, where carbon dioxide enters, where sunlight is used, and where oxygen leaves.
Different ways in
Support
Use arrows and labels to show the inputs and outputs, then explain one part in your own words.
Core
Complete the table and write a paragraph explaining why photosynthesis matters for living systems.
Stretch
Explain how photosynthesis connects to both oxygen in the atmosphere and energy moving through a food web.
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi
Level 3–4: Investigate social, cultural, environmental, and economic questions; gather and evaluate evidence from diverse sources; communicate findings and reasoning clearly for different audiences and purposes.
English — Communication
Level 3–4: Read, interpret, and evaluate information texts; write clearly and purposefully for specific audiences; apply critical thinking skills to evaluate sources and construct well-reasoned responses.
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
This resource sits within a kaupapa that recognises mātauranga Māori as a living knowledge system with its own frameworks, values, and ways of understanding the world. The New Zealand Curriculum calls for learning that reflects the bicultural partnership of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which means every subject area has an obligation to engage authentically with Māori perspectives — not as cultural decoration but as substantive contributions to how we understand our topics. The concepts of manaakitanga (care for others), kaitiakitanga (guardianship), whanaungatanga (relationship and belonging), and tino rangatiratanga (self-determination) provide a values framework applicable across all learning areas, and all are relevant to the work in this handout.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Support Materials
This handout is designed to be used alongside the broader unit resources available at Te Kete Ako handouts library. Related resources from the same unit are linked in the unit planner. All resources are provided — no additional preparation is required to use this handout in your classroom.