These Teacher Notes summarize basic concepts and information related to energy, ATP, cellular respiration, and photosynthesis. These Teacher Notes also review common misconceptions and suggest a sequence of learning activities designed to develop student understanding of important concepts and overcome any misconceptions.

The attached files describe the key concepts, common misconceptions and suggested learning activities (in Word and PDF formats).

Students analyze evidence to evaluate four hypotheses about where a tree’s mass comes from. 

Students engage in scientific practices as they learn that trees consist mainly of water and organic molecules and most of the mass of the organic molecules consists of carbon and oxygen atoms that came from carbon dioxide molecules in the air.

For example, students analyze Helmont’s classic experiment and evaluate whether his interpretation was supported by his evidence.

The Student Handout is available in the first two attached files. The Teacher Notes, available in the last two attached files, provide instructional suggestions and background information and explain how this activity is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.

This activity has been included as part of Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration – Understanding the Basics of Bioenergetics and Biosynthesis (available at /exchange/bioactivities/photocellrespir).

This minds-on analysis and discussion activity challenges students to explain changes in biomass for plants growing in the light vs. dark. Students analyze how photosynthesis, biosynthesis, and cellular respiration affect biomass.

The Teacher Notes suggest three possible additions to this activity that expand student understanding of photosynthesis, cellular respiration, hydrolysis of ATP, biosynthesis, and starch. (NGSS)

The Student Handout is available in the first two attached files and as a Google doc designed for use in distance learning and online instruction. (For additional instructions, see https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/Googledocs, especially item 7.) The Teacher Notes, available in the last two attached files, provide instructional suggestions and background information and explain how this activity is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.

This analysis and discussion activity helps students to understand the relationships between food, physical activity, cellular respiration, and changes in body weight.

Analysis of a representative scenario helps students to understand how challenging it is to prevent weight gain by exercising to offset what seems to be a relatively modest lunch.

The Student Handout is available in the first two attached files. The Teacher Notes, available in the last two attached files, provide instructional suggestions and background information and explain how this activity is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.

The Teacher Notes present a sequence of activities that will help students understand the basic structure and function of proteins and DNA.

To understand how genes influence our characteristics, students learn that different versions of a protein can result in different characteristics, and a gene in the DNA determines which version of a protein is synthesized by a person’s cells.

This information is conveyed through a PowerPoint with a sequence of discussion questions and videos, a Student Handout, and an optional hands-on learning activity. This sequence can be used in an introductory unit on biological molecules or to introduce a unit on molecular biology.