How a Plant Makes Food

Photosynthesis sequencing worksheet for middle school life science. Students read six mixed-up steps of photosynthesis and put them in order — from sunlight reaching the leaf, to chlorophyll capturing energy, to building glucose and releasing oxygen — so they can see exactly how a plant makes its own food.

This scaffolded, one-page activity keeps the science accurate. Glucose is treated as the plant's food and oxygen as the leftover, heading off the common mix-up that oxygen is the goal of photosynthesis. After ordering the chain, a short comprehension question asks students to pinpoint the step where glucose is made, using evidence straight from the sequence.

Everything is print-and-go: one student page plus a complete answer key. The clean Order-and-Step table is quick to grade, and the reading level is set for grades 5–8.

Use it as a warm-up, a reading check, an exit ticket, or homework. It supports NGSS MS-LS1-6 (role of photosynthesis in matter and energy) and strengthens the close-reading and sequencing skills in CCSS RST.6-8.3. Just print and teach.