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Of all the living things in the world, trees and other green plants are the only ones that have the unique ability to make their own food using light energy from the sun. The food that green plants produce not only sustains the plant but also provides food, directly or indirectly, for all animal life.
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Photosynthesis takes place when water and nutrients from the soil are absorbed by a tree's roots and carried by special tube-like cells called xylem up through the tree trunk… through the branches… through the twigs… all the way to the leaves.
Water moves into the leaf through the veins.
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At the same time water is entering the leaf, carbon dioxide is also being absorbed into the leaf from the air through holes called stomata. Carbon dioxide is a gas that is exhaled by people and animals and is also released during the burning of fossil fuels.
Photosynthesis begins when sunlight hits the leaf. Chlorophyll, a green-colored chemical within the leaf, captures the sunlight.
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