Explain the concept of photosynthesis to your kid with a simple experiment

Photosynthesis is the process through which plants convert water, carbon dioxide, and minerals into glucose (food) and oxygen using energy from the sun. This procedure is critical to life on earth. Animals not only eat plants, but they also breathe in the oxygen that the plants emit. When mammals exhale, they release carbon dioxide, which the plants can use to increase photosynthesis. Well, you can explain this concept to your young school goer through an interesting experiment.

The experiment

Introduce your kids to the amazing world of plants and how they offer life sustaining elements to humans with a simple home experiment.

What you’ll need  

Fresh spinach leaves
Hole puncher (or can use hard plastic straw)

Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
Liquid dishwashing detergent (only need a drop)
1 plastic syringe (10 mL or larger)
2 clear cups
1 measuring cup

1 measuring spoon
Light source (natural sunlight works, or you can use an artificial light)

How-to  

Get these ingredients on a table, call your child, and start the experiment. Here’s a step-by-step guide. Help them follow these.

Fill your measuring cup with 300 ml of water and 1/8 teaspoon baking soda, scooped out with a measuring spoon. To make your bicarbonate solution, combine the baking soda and water. Baking soda releases carbon dioxide as it dissolves in water. The spinach will utilise this for photosynthesis. Pour the mixture into a cup and put it aside.

To make a detergent solution, fill the clean measuring cup halfway with water and a drop of liquid dishwashing detergent.
Half of the bicarbonate solution needs to be poured into a transparent cup. In the bicarbonate solution, sprinkle a drop of the detergent solution. Make certain there aren't any suds. If bubbles appear, keep adding little amounts of the bicarbonate solution to the cup until they disappear.
Make 10–20 discs out of the spinach leaves using the hole punch. Only punch holes in smooth, flat parts of the leaf, avoiding big veins or the leaf's margins. Remove the syringe's plunger and insert the discs into the syringe.
Replenish the syringe with the plunger and slowly de-press it to remove as much air as possible without crushing the leaves.
Pull around 3 ml of liquid from the bicarbonate/detergent mixture using the syringe tip. To suspend the leaves in the fluid, gently tap the syringe. To produce a vacuum, place your finger over the syringe's end and pull back on the plunger.

To ensure that the leaves absorb the carbon dioxide, repeat the preceding step. You should notice the discs descending to the syringe's bottom. If this does not happen, you may need to start anew with new discs and a new baking soda solution.
Watch the discs settle to the bottom of the cup containing the bicarbonate/detergent mixture. Make sure they don't become stuck to the cup's sides. Allow the cup to be exposed to natural or artificial light for several minutes. Observe and record what happens when the spinach discs produce oxygen through photosynthesis.

How did photosynthesis take place?
Plants use carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight to generate food and release oxygen as a result of photosynthesis. Life as we know it on this planet would not survive without photosynthesis. Inquire if your kids noticed the reaction taking place with the spinach leaves right in front of their eyes. They undoubtedly noted that it didn't take long for them to detect the reaction after turning on the light. All it required was a few simple items and a few minutes to create a quick and effective energy converter.