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[Dino and Coop singing]

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Chemical reactions are happening all around you, every single day! [Guy holding a test tube which explodes]

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Don't worry, it's not all lab explosions and goopy blob monsters. [Green glob attacks a girl in the lab]

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You can come out from under the desk.

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We're talking about things like The hot frying pan causing your morning bacon [Bacon frying]

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to sizzle...

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The rust accumulating on your bicycle...

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Or the banana in your lunch turning brown... aka the grossest thing to ever happen in the

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history of the universe. [Guy looks grossed out]

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Yegh.

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Okay maybe get back under the desk.

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Let's get back to bacon and rust!

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…Well. Not at the same time.

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No one likes rusty bacon… [Girl holding a piece of rusty bacon]

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These are just a couple examples of chemistry in action.

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And there's one chemical reaction in particular that you're reaping the benefits of every

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single moment.

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No, not bacon again.

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We wish.

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We're talking about photosynthesis!

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When you think of the word photosynthesis, you probably think of a plant.

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And guess what?

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You'd be right!

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But at the risk of offending the other big player in this totally awesome chemical reaction, [Plant on a table]

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allow us to introduce the co-star of photosynthesis, the Sun! [Crowd cheering for the Sun on stage]

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Seriously, he gets a little hot-headed if you don't give him proper credit…

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It all starts with our plant here collecting a whole lot of stuff in its leaves, including

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carbon dioxide from the air, and water from its roots that travels up into the rest of [Arrows showing the flow of water]

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the plant.

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Next, the sun comes in, shining rays of sunshine down onto the plant.

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The leaves of the plant absorb these too.

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Once the sun's involved, the rays actually cause the carbon dioxide and water to combine [All the components combining]

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and form a sugar called glucose, which the plant uses as food. [Apples appear on the tree]

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We'd guess this is the plant's favorite part of the whole process.

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Pretty sweet, right?

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But what's even sweeter than the glucose produced is the by-product that comes as a result of

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it – a little thing we like to call oxygen.

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This oxygen is then released by the plant and back into our atmosphere. [Outwards flow of oxygen shown]

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And where does that oxygen go next?

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Into your lungs, of course. [Guy breathing in the oxygen]

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But not just human lungs.

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Pig lungs.

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And cow lungs.

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And gorilla lungs. [All the animals under a tree]

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And the lungs of every other oxygen-breathing animal on earth.

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All because the sun and these plants got together and decided to make some sugar.

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And if that wasn't useful enough already, photosynthesis also plays an important part

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in removing excess carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere by humans and the burning of [Big factory giving off carbon dioxide]

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fossil fuels.

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They're actually cleaning pollution out of our air. [Trees appear and begin to clean the air]

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Now how's that for impressive?

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So the next time you pass by a plant, why not stop by and say thanks for all its hard work?

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On second thought, maybe don't do that.

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It'll probably look a little weird. [Guy saying the plant is his hero, another guy looks confused]

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