In this video, we're going to introduce chloroplasts. Chloroplasts are organelles that are actually green in color. Chloroplasts are green organelles and they function specifically as the site of a process called photosynthesis. This process of photosynthesis occurs in many plant cells that contain these green chloroplast organelles. But what is this process of photosynthesis exactly? Well, photosynthesis is once again a cellular process that uses energy from the sun or sunlight in order to synthesize sugars such as glucose, for instance.
If we take a look at our image down below, over here on the left-hand side, notice that we're showing you an image using a light microscope, looking at plant cells that contain chloroplasts. All of these green circles that you see here throughout this image represent chloroplasts. Chloroplasts are these green organelles that function as the site of photosynthesis, the process that uses energy from the sunlight to synthesize sugars such as glucose.
Over here on the right-hand side, we're showing you a little reaction here for the process of photosynthesis, which occurs in many plant cells. Here what we're showing you is a plant that is conducting the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis converts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (CO2), water from the environment, and sunlight into sugars like glucose, which is a very specific sugar. In addition to creating the sugar, it also creates oxygen gas (O2), which is a really important gas for us because we breathe in oxygen gas. Plants, because they perform photosynthesis, produce a lot of the oxygen gas that we breathe in.
This here concludes our introduction to chloroplasts and how chloroplasts are these green organelles that serve as the site of photosynthesis inside many plant cells. Photosynthesis is the process that uses sunlight to synthesize sugars. Now that we've covered the general basics of the chloroplast, in our next video we'll be able to talk about the structures of the chloroplast. So, I'll see you guys in that video.
