chloroplasts

Chloroplasts are tiny green structures inside plant cells that help the plant make its own food by photosynthesis.

• They are a type of plastid (a group of special structures found in plant cells).
• Chloroplasts contain chlorophyll, the green pigment that traps sunlight—this is why many leaves look green.
• Inside chloroplasts, the cell uses sunlight + water + carbon dioxide to make glucose (food) and releases oxygen as a by-product.
• They are found in large numbers in green parts of plants (like leaves), because those parts get the most sunlight.
• Think of a chloroplast like a tiny solar kitchen in the cell: it uses light energy to “cook” food for the plant.

Without chloroplasts, plants could not make their own food, and the food chains that depend on plants would not work the same way.