Science in the Bible: Water of Life, Plants

Psalm 1:3  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Acts 17:25  Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

Now, this isn’t one of the miraculous scientific principles scattered around the Bible. Anyone who had been alive for more than a few years could figure out that if a plant dried out, it died. But it is still quite interesting to find out what exactly water does to keep us alive. Since I got the idea for this while studying Photosynthesis last week, I’m going to cover plants.

When you look at what a plant needs to have in order to do its work of changing sunlight into food, you will see that one of the main ingredients is water. In fact, Photosynthesis breaks water apart in order to produce starches and sugars. So when I forget to water my houseplants, they aren’t just shriveling up from evaporation. Without water to work with they are starving! Doesn’t that make you more motivated to care for your garden?

So then I had a question. Since Photosynthesis breaks water, why do we still have so much water around? It’s been a long time since I was in 5th grade and I wasn’t paying that much attention except to pass a test and get back to my fantasy novel. So now I’m thinking about this puzzle.

I had an idea or two about what’s going on, especially remembering the stuff that drips out of my car’s tailpipe, but I didn’t have time to check my hunches until today. Yes, sir, it is breathing, or respiration, that puts back together the broken H₂O molecules to keep our planet from turning into just one more dust ball in space.

Here’s what University of California Davis says about the balance of these two processes,

“Photosynthesis is the process by which plants use light energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars. The sugars produced by photosynthesis can be stored, transported throughout the tree, and converted into energy which is used to power all cellular processes. Respiration occurs when glucose (sugar produced during photosynthesis) combines with oxygen to produce useable cellular energy. This energy is used to fuel growth and all of the normal cellular functions. Carbon dioxide and water are formed as by-products of respiration.”

We all know that animals breathe, but plants respire as well. And, the equation for burning the sugars is basically the same ingredients as photosynthesis backwards.

When you combine this knowledge with the oxygen cycle between plants and animals you see just how carefully God has balanced our world.  So, if you had a planet full of plants with no animals, it wouldn’t last long. And we all know what would happen to us if we had a planet without plants! Our wise Creator didn’t leave the plants alone for very long before He brought in lots of animals to keep the water and oxygen levels in balance.

And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.  Exekiel 47:12
In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  Revelation 22:2

Check out this cool experiment someone did with water plants to see the oxygen bubbling out during Photosynthesis: