Photosynthesis Crossword Puzzle With Answer Key

Press New puzzle for a photosynthesis vocabulary crossword, from leaves and sunlight to the Calvin cycle.

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Photosynthesis Crossword

Read each clue and write the answer in the squares that start at its number, one letter in each square.

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  • Absorb
  • Oxygen
  • Photosynthesis
  • Producer
  • Respiration
  • Roots
  • Seedling
  • Stem
  • Stomata
  • Sugar

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Answer key: Photosynthesis Crossword

1ST2OMAT3A4PTXB5RHEYSOOMGOOT6RESPIRATIONNBSSY7SEEDLINGT8SH9PRODUCERGSAIRS

Across 1 STOMATA · 6 RESPIRATION · 7 SEEDLING · 9 PRODUCER

Down 1 STEM · 2 OXYGEN · 3 ABSORB · 4 PHOTOSYNTHESIS · 5 ROOTS · 8 SUGAR

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All 40 clues

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Photosynthesis Basics 20

  • Absorb Take in, as leaves do with light
  • Algae Simple living things of ponds and seas that make food the way plants do
  • Carbon dioxide Gas a plant takes in through its leaves
  • Chlorophyll Green coloring matter that traps light
  • Grow Get taller and bigger over time
  • Leaf Flat green plant part where most of the food is made
  • Nutrients Minerals a plant takes up from the ground
  • Oxygen Gas plants give off that animals breathe in
  • Photosynthesis Process a plant uses to make its own food
  • Producer Role of a plant at the start of a food chain
  • Respiration Process that releases the stored power in food, the reverse of food-making
  • Roots Plant parts underground that soak up moisture
  • Seedling Young plant just sprouted from a seed
  • Soil Earth a plant grows in
  • Starch Stored plant food found in potatoes
  • Stem Stalk that holds a plant up and carries fluid to the top
  • Stomata Tiny pores that let gases in and out, most often on the lower surface
  • Sugar Sweet food a plant makes
  • Sunlight What a plant catches with its leaves to power food-making
  • Water Liquid a plant draws up from the ground

Chloroplasts and the Two Stages 20

  • ATP Energy-carrying molecule made in the light-dependent reactions
  • Autotroph Self-feeder that builds its food from simple substances
  • Calvin cycle Light-independent reactions that fix carbon into carbohydrate
  • Carotenoid Yellow, orange or red coloring matter that makes carrots orange
  • Chloroplast Plant cell part where food-making happens
  • Glucose Simple carbohydrate, C6H12O6
  • Grana Stacks of thylakoids
  • Guard cells Pair of cells that open and close each pore
  • Heterotroph Living thing that must eat others for food, such as an animal
  • NADPH Electron carrier made in the light-dependent reactions and used to build carbohydrates
  • Phloem Tissue that carries sugars from the leaves to the rest of the plant
  • Photon Tiny packet of light
  • Pigment Substance that gives color by absorbing some light
  • Reactant Starting substance in a chemical reaction
  • Rubisco The most abundant enzyme on Earth, which fixes carbon in the Calvin cycle
  • Stroma Colorless fluid around the stacks, where the Calvin cycle runs
  • Thylakoid Flattened membrane sac where the light-dependent reactions run
  • Transpiration Loss of moisture as vapor through the pores of leaves
  • Wavelength Distance between wave peaks; red and blue light differ in it
  • Xylem Woody tissue of tubes that carries fluid up a plant

How this list was compiled: 40 clues written for this site on one science unit, in two sets: the basics for grades 4 to 6, and the chloroplast, the two stages and plant tissues for middle and high school. Definitions were checked against English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org) in September 2026. No clue was copied from a published puzzle. Licence: own work

How it works

This photosynthesis crossword puzzle covers one unit in two levels: the basics, from Stomata to Starch, and the chloroplast and its two stages, from Thylakoid to the Calvin cycle. It is a vocabulary crossword.

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Two levels

Photosynthesis Basics suits grades 4 to 6 and opens with the word bank on. Chloroplasts and the Two Stages suits middle and high school, with ATP, NADPH, Rubisco and Transpiration; untick the word bank in More options.

Print or solve

Print gives Letter or A4 with the answer key last. To solve on screen, tap a square and type.

  • Before the unit, print the basics without the word bank to see which words the class already knows.

Questions and answers

Is there a photosynthesis crossword with answers?

Yes. Every print ends with the answer key on a sheet of its own, and Show all clues and answers, under the puzzle, lists all 40 clues with their answers.

How is this different from the biology crossword?

The biology crossword covers cells, genetics and ecology and leaves photosynthesis out. The two banks share one answer, Producer, with different clues, so a class can do both.

Which grades are the sets for?

Photosynthesis Basics suits grades 4 to 6. Chloroplasts and the Two Stages suits grades 7 to 12. These bands are our judgement, not a published standard.

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