IN HONOR OF PLANTS

It is solidly winter in the Ozarks.  The grasses are dormant, and the deciduous trees are bare.  As much as I love winter (fireplaces, hot cocoa, and snowball fights) I do miss the green.  So, in honor of plants I am sharing a bit of chemistry.  Please don’t panic.  I will be gentle.

Plants use sunlight to rearrange molecules of carbon dioxide and water to form sugars (carbohydrates) and give off oxygen as a waste product.  It is the perfect complement for animals because we taken the oxygen and use it with carbohydrates to fuel our existence.  We give off carbon dioxide as a waste product.