Photosynthesis and respiration are reversible processes. In photosynthesis, a plant takes in carbon dioxide and water molecules, as well as light energy. The plant turns it into glucose (a sugar), oxygen and water. In cellular respiration, the opposite happens. A cell turns oxygen and glucose into carbon dioxide and water.

This cycle is what keeps the world's level of oxygen (necessary for human and animal life) and carbon dioxide (necessary for plant life) in balance. It allows both plants and animals to grow and thrive.

This isn't necessarily part of the two paragraphs, but if you need the equations for the processes, they are below:
Photosynthesis: 6 CO2 molecules + 12 H2O molecules (and light energy) turns into C6H12O6 (glucose) + 6 H2O molecules + 6 O2 molecules.
Respiration: C6H12O6 + 6 O2 molecules turns into 6 CO2 molecules + 6H2O molecules
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_respiration

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"Photosynthesis is the process where green plants use sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water to make food and oxygen.
"Photosynthesis is the conversion of light energy into chemical energy by living organisms. The raw materials are carbon dioxide and water, the energy source is sunlight, and the end-products include glucose and oxygen."

Photosynthesis and respiration are reversible chemical reactions, meaning that the products of one process are the exact reactants for the opposite process. Respiration is the process where cells use this food to release stored energy."Without this process we could not breath.
Source(s):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/default.stm

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DO YOUR OWN DAMN HOMEWORK!
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Plants, like all other living organisms, need to make use of stored chemical energy in order to perform their life functions -- to grow, to transport nutrients, to reproduce, and to protect themselves. They do this all the time, using free oxygen from the air and use the sugars that they have stored inside to make carbon dioxide and water. Sounds backwards from what a plant ought to be doing! Plants are special in that they also perform an almost reverse reaction, that of converting carbon dioxide and water and other nutrients found in the soil into sugars plus oxygen, via photosynthesis, aided by the molecule chlorophyll.

Plants can only perform photosynthesis during the daytime, and leafy trees drop their leaves in the autumn in temperate climates, so they are unable to perform photosynthesis in the winter. They still perform respiration in order to use stored energy and survive during these times, though.
Source(s):
http://photoscience.la.asu.edu/photosyn/education/learn.html
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water/fhp/lakes/under/oxygen.htm


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Respiration as referenced in the previous answers is not the same as 'breathing'. They are two different processes.
Photosynthetic organisms (not just plants!!) capture sunlight via pigments and use this energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugars that can be broken down for energy. Cellular respiration is essentially the reverse of this process. Organisms break down carbon molecules (obtained from either organic or inorganic sources) and utilize this energy to form ATP and waste products. The equation for respiration differs depending on whether or not it is aerobic (utilizes oxygen).
Breathing is when organisms take in oxygen (accomplished in a multitude of ways, but all of it boils down to diffusion) and expel carbon dioxide (one of the waste products of aerobic respiration).
All three of these processes are interdependent. Photosynthesis produces carbon molecules that can be utilized by other organisms to fuel their cellular processes, which produce CO2 as a byproduct that is released from the body.

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