1.
C3 plant: A plant the uses the calvin cycle for the initial steps that incorporate CO2 into organic material
2.
C4 plant: A plant that prefaces the calvin cycle with reactions that incorporate CO2 into four-carbon compounds
3.
Calvin Cycle: The second of two stages of photosynthesis;
4.
CAM plant: A plant that uses crassulacean acid metabolism, an adaptation for photosynthesis in arid conditions
5.
Chlorophyll a: A green pigment in chloroplasts that participates directly in the light reactions
6.
Chloroplast (s): An organelle found in plants and photosynthesis protists
7.
Electromagnetic spectrum: The full range of radiation, from the very short wavelengths of gamma rays to the very long wavelengths of radio signals
8.
Granum (grana): A stack of hollow disks formed of thylakoid membrane in a chloroplast
9.
Mesophyll: The green tissue in the interior of a leaf
10.
NADP+: oxidized electron carrier
11.
NADPH+: oxidized electron carrier
12.
Photon: A fixed quantity of light energy
13.
Photosynthesis: The process by which plants, autotrophic protists, and some bacteria use light energy to make sugars and other organic food molecules from carbon dioxide and water
14.
Photosynthesis equation: 6 H2O + 6 CO2 ---> C6H12O6 + 6 O2
15.
Reaction Center: In a photosystem in a chloroplast, the chlorophyll a molecule and the primary electron acceptor that trigger the light reactions of photosynthesis
16.
Redox reaction: a chemical reaction in which electrons are lost from one substance (oxidation) and added to another (reduction)
17.
Stoma (stomata): A pore surrounded by guard cells in the epidermis of a leaf
18.
Stroma: A thick fluid enclosed by the inner membrane of a chloroplast
19.
Thylakoid (s): one of a number of disk-shaped membranous sacs inside a chloroplast.
20.
Wavelength: The distance between crests of adjacent waves