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Photosynthesis: The Musical

by Miguel Martinez & Youth in Arts

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1.
Photosynthesis? I don’t really need this. What do I care? I’M GONNA BE A FASHION DESIGNER ALL MY CLOTHING WILL BE MUCH FINER Photosynthesis? I don’t really need this. What do I care? I’M GONNA MAKE A GREAT VIDEO GAME OH, MY LAPTOP WILL BRING ME FAME Photosynthesis? I don’t really need this. What do I care? I’M GONNA BE A FAMOUS COOK I NEED A RECIPE FOR MY CHEF’S BOOK Photosynthesis? I don’t really need this. I DON’T REALLY NEED THIS. Project runway I’m not gonna miss. I DON’T REALLY NEED THIS. Oh wow! I’m getting really good at this! I DON’T REALLY NEED THIS. I’d rather make a chocolate kiss I DON’T REALLY NEED THIS. WHAT DO I CARE?! WHAT DOES THIS MATTER?! THIS IS A WASTE OF TIME! STUDYING FOR THIS TEST JUST ISN’T FAIR! THIS WON’T TAKE ME ANYWHERE. Photosynthesis? I don’t really need this.
2.
The sun is a golden star That burns into endless space Only a tiny part of its light Comes to warm earth's face The sun warms our land and air Melts glaciers, stirs the breeze But, oh, the magic it creates When it reaches a plant's green leaves... GROWING ALL AROUND US, PLANTS COLLECT THE SUN, SO LIFE ON EARTH CAN KEEP LIVING. ENERGY FOR EVERYONE! THESE LITTLE SUNLIGHT PACKETS, WHICH ALL THE PLANTS COLLECT, ARE KNOWN AS THE PHOTONS. YEAH, YEAH, YEAH! THE FIRST THING YOU MUST LEARN ABOUT PHOTOSYNTHESIS PLANTS NEED THE SUN AND THE SUN FEEDS THE PLANTS GROWING ALL AROUND US, PLANTS COLLECT THE SUN, SO LIFE ON EARTH CAN KEEP LIVING. ENERGY FOR EVERYONE! THESE LITTLE SUNLIGHT PACKETS, WHICH ALL THE PLANTS COLLECT, ARE KNOWN AS THE PHOTONS. YEAH, YEAH, YEAH! But, what do the photons do? THEY ENERGIZE EACH PLANT'S CELLS CAUSING ELECTRONS TO EXCITE! GETTING THEM TO BOUNCE AND JUMP, MOVING AROUND, TAKING FLIGHT GROWING ALL AROUND US, PLANTS COLLECT THE SUN, SO LIFE ON EARTH CAN KEEP LIVING. ENERGY FOR EVERYONE! THESE LITTLE SUNLIGHT PACKETS, WHICH ALL THE PLANTS COLLECT, ARE KNOWN AS THE PHOTONS. YEAH, YEAH, YEAH! IT’S HOW WE BEGIN TO MAKE FOOD AND OXYGEN. ELEMENTS COME TOGETHER AND ARE BROKEN APART AGAIN! GROWING ALL AROUND US, PLANTS COLLECT THE SUN, SO LIFE ON EARTH CAN KEEP LIVING. ENERGY FOR EVERYONE! GROWING ALL AROUND US, PLANTS COLLECT THE SUN, SO LIFE ON EARTH CAN KEEP LIVING. ENERGY FOR EVERYONE! SO LIFE ON EARTH CAN KEEP LIVING. ENERGY FOR EVERYONE! SO LIFE ON EARTH CAN KEEP LIVING. ENERGY FOR EVERYONE!
3.
H2O, OH, DON’T YOU KNOW PHOTOSYNTHESIS ALLOWS PLANTS TO GROW SO, SPLIT THIS WATER RIGHT IN TWO, PLANTS GET ELECTRONS AND ENERGY, TOO H2O, OH, DON’T YOU SEE WITHOUT IT PLANTS JUST WOULD NOT BE BUT, GET IT, BREAK IT AND WATCH IT FLOW THEN THEIR ENERGY STARTS GROW (GROW-OH-OH-OH) H2O, OH, DON’T YOU FEEL WHEN WATER BREAKS APART, OXYGEN IS REVEALED ENERGY’S NOT THE ONLY THING GIVEN, OXYGENS’ RELEASED, SO WE CAN KEEP ON LIVIN’ H2O, OH, DON’T YOU HEAR? NOW IT’S OXYGEN, ARE WE CLEAR? WE CAN BREATH IT INTO OUR LUNGS TO STAY ALIVE AND KEEP HAVIN’ FUN (FU-UH-UH-UN) H2O, DON’T YOU KNOW? PHOTOSYNTHESIS! ALLOWS PLANTS TO GROW!
4.
There are hundreds of thousands of kinds of plants. Those are just the ones that we've found! There are plants in every habitat All the world round. And the things that plants can give us, It's amazing just to think, That all that most of them need to grow Is sun, air and water to drink. PLANTS, AMAZING PLANTS JUST LOOK AROUND AND YOU WILL SEE PLANTS, AMAZING PLANTS WHEREVER LIFE MAY BE SOME PLANTS BLOOM WITH FLOWERS BEAUTIFUL TO SEE SOME PLANTS TOWER TO THE SKY A TALL AND MIGHTY TREE SOME PLANTS ARE SO PRICKLY HANDLE THEM WITH CARE SOME PLANTS TURN UP EVERYPLACE AND SOME ARE VERY RARE PLANTS, AMAZING PLANTS JUST LOOK AROUND AND YOU WILL SEE PLANTS, AMAZING PLANTS WHEREVER LIFE MAY BE SOME PLANTS GROW FROM SEEDLINGS IN GARDENS THAT WE TEND OTHERS THROW SPORES ON THE BREEZE AND GROW JUST WHERE THEY LAND MOSSES, FERNS AND GRASSES BUSHES, GRAINS AND VINES PLANTS OF EVERY SHAPE AND SIZE AND PLANTS OF EVERY KIND PLANTS, AMAZING PLANTS JUST LOOK AROUND AND YOU WILL SEE PLANTS, AMAZING PLANTS WHEREVER LIFE MAY BE WHEREVER LIFE MAY BE WHEREVER LIFE MAY BE…
5.
PLANTS, AMAZING PLANTS JUST LOOK AROUND AND YOU WILL SEE PLANTS, AMAZING PLANTS WHEREVER LIFE MAY BE SOME PLANTS HELP MAKE FABRIC WITH FIBERS THAT THEY SHARE SOME PLANTS CAN BE USED FOR DYE A RAINBOW YOU CAN WEAR SOME PLANTS HELP YOU FUEL UP POWERING YOUR LIVES MAKING CLEANER ENERGY TO HELP THE PLANET THRIVE PLANTS, AMAZING PLANTS JUST LOOK AROUND AND YOU WILL SEE PLANTS, AMAZING PLANTS WHEREVER LIFE MAY BE WHEREVER LIFE MAY BE…
6.
Look around us, kids, and what do we see? A garden filled with things that we love to eat! But tell me how did all this food get here? Photosynthesis! Ohhh, yeah! YOU’VE LEARNED ABOUT PHOTOSYNTHESIS YOU KNOW HOW PLANTS DO THIS BUSINESS BUT THEY NEED SOMETHING FROM YOU AND THAT LITTLE SOMETHING IS CALLED CO2! PLANTS TAKE CARBON AND WATER, TOO MAKE TASTY CARBOHYDRATES FOR YOU CALL IT GLUCOSE, CALL IT FOOD CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT BUT YOU KNOW IT’S TRUE PLANTS MAKE SUGAR! (YEAH, YEAH) PLANTS MAKE SUGAR IN THE GARDEN, KIDS! PLANTS MAKE SUGAR! (YEAH, YEAH) GIVE US THAT SUGAR, TO HELP US LIVE! UNDERSTAND THAT IT’S NOT ALL FOR YOU SUGAR IS A THING THAT THE PLANTS USE, TOO TO GROW THEIR LEAVES AND TO GROW THEIR ROOTS PLANTS ARE ABLE TO MAKE THEIR OWN FOOD THE PLANTS TAKE ENERGY FROM THE SUN ANIMALS EAT IT WHEN THEY’RE DONE WE HAVE THE FOOD THAT WE NEED TO EAT SOLAR POWERED FOOD GIVES US ENERGY PLANTS MAKE SUGAR! (YEAH, YEAH) PLANTS MAKE SUGAR IN THE GARDEN, KIDS! PLANTS MAKE SUGAR! (YEAH, YEAH) GIVE US THAT SUGAR, TO HELP US LIVE! Now kids, you know we’re not just talking about sweet sugar, like candy or ice cream. Right? (No?) Of course not, this is the glucose that is in all of our nutritious foods Like in these berries? (YEAH, YEAH) Like a sandwich? (YEAH, YEAH) Like in broccoli? (YEAH, YEAH) So that’s all made of sugars? (YEAH, YEAH) Well that’s the whole point of... PHOTOSYNTHESIS TO HELP US LIVE Photosynthesis!
7.
WE FINALLY GET IT, WE FINALLY SEE, SUNLIGHT’S ALIVE INSIDE YOU AND IN ME! SUN GIVES US LIFE THROUGH PHOTOSYNTHESIS EARTH’S IMPORTANT PROCESS WE CANNOT MISS Photosynthesis? We really need this! We really do care! ABOUT SUGAR, FUEL AND CLOTHES TO WEAR ABOUT SUGAR, FUEL AND CLOTHES TO WEAR Photosynthesis? We really need this! We really do care! It's making life with sunlight It shines so bright From the sun to a tree To everything that we see There is light alive inside of me and you Thanks to water, sunlight and CO2! Photosynthesis? We really need this! We really do care! ABOUT SUGAR, FUEL, AND CLOTHES TO WEAR ABOUT SUGAR, FUEL, AND CLOTHES TO WEAR ABOUT SUGAR, FUEL, AND CLOTHES TO WEAR
8.
WHEN YOU SEE A PLANT THINK OF ALL THEY DO ENERGY FROM SUNSHINE BECOMES SWEET FOOD FOR YOU WE CAN MAKE GOOD CHOICES IN ALL THAT WE DO KEEP OUR PLANET HEALTHY FOR PLANTS AND PEOPLE ,TOO LIFE KEEPS CIRCLING ‘ROUND FEEL THE SUN IN YOUR HEART GIVING SOMETHING, TAKING SOMETHING WE ALL DO OUR PART ALL THE LIFE ON EARTH ALL HAVE SOMETHING TO GIVE FEEL THE SUN IN YOUR HEART HOLD THE LIGHT AND MAKE IT LIVE SUNLIGHT AND WATER AND SOME CO2 PLANTS TAKE WHAT EARTH GIVES US MAKE FIBER, FUEL AND FOOD SWEET AND TASTY SUGAR EATING TO SURVIVE BREATHE OUT CO2 AND WE HELP THE CYCLE THRIVE LIFE KEEPS CIRCLING ‘ROUND FEEL THE SUN IN YOUR HEART GIVING SOMETHING, TAKING SOMETHING WE ALL DO OUR PART ALL THE LIFE ON EARTH ALL HAVE SOMETHING TO GIVE FEEL THE SUN IN YOUR HEART HOLD THE LIGHT AND MAKE IT LIVE LIFE KEEPS CIRCLING AROUND HOLD THE LIGHT AND MAKE IT LIVE FEEL THE SUN IN YOUR HEART HOLD THE LIGHT AND MAKE IT LIVE GIVING SOMETHING, TAKING SOMETHING HOLD THE LIGHT AND MAKE IT LIVE WE ALL DO OUR PART HOLD THE LIGHT AND MAKE IT LIVE ALL THE LIFE ON EARTH HOLD THE LIGHT AND MAKE IT LIVE ALL HAVE SOMETHING TO GIVE HOLD THE LIGHT AND MAKE IT LIVE FEEL THE SUN IN YOUR HEART HOLD THE LIGHT AND MAKE IT LIVE HOLD THE LIGHT AND MAKE IT LIVE HOLD THE LIGHT AND MAKE IT LIVE ALL THE LIFE ON EARTH (YEAH...)

about

Inspired by Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life by Molly Bang & Penny Chisholm, Youth in Arts worked with musician/composer Miguel Martinez to create an original musical theater production, staged in Spring 2012 in San Rafael, California. The show featured three students who were dubious about the value of photosynthesis in their lives and learned a valuable lesson about how this amazing scientific process actually powers all life on earth. This recording of songs from the musical was made in summer 2013 by Miguel Martinez, members of the original cast and additional vocalists. To find out more about this project and receive study guides or other materials, contact yia@youthinarts.org.

Thanks to the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for making this recording possible and accessible to all! www.moore.org

credits

released December 22, 2014

Music by Miguel Martinez
Lyrics by Miko Lee, Jen Daly and Nydia Algazzali Gonzalez
Keyboard, Drums & Bass: Julio De La Cruz
Guitar: Miguel Martinez
Vocalists: Nydia Algazzali Gonzalez, Ayame Keane-Lee, Ian Daly, Mercedes Bertero, Michelle Jaqcues, Rhea Lee

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Youth in Arts San Rafael, California

Youth in Arts’ mission is to provide students with high quality experiences and instruction in the visual and performing arts, and to enrich the community with cultural events. Through artist residencies, professional performances, school and community events, and intensive out-of-school programs for teens, we help young people develop skills and confidence to share their unique creative voices. ... more

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