This cluster includes the following access points.
Vetted resources educators can use to teach the concepts and skills in this topic.
Name |
Description |
Cellular Respiration Simulation: | In this lesson, students will model cellular respiration during a simulation and by creating a drawing. Students will follow a storyline in which manipulatives are used to represent primary components of cellular respiration. Students will keep a Respiration Record of the steps in cellular respiration as they complete the simulation. Students will then create a drawing model of cellular respiration. Finally, an exit ticket assesses the outcomes of the lesson with respect to the learning goal of being able to explain cellular respiration in terms of the flow of energy and matter. |
Carbon and Climate: | Students will collect and analyze data on the movement of carbon atoms through the carbon cycle. Students will be introduced to climate change caused by greenhouse gases and participate in a simulation of the carbon cycle. Students will develop an understanding of how the movement of carbon atoms can contribute to climate change. Students will model the carbon cycle. |
Modeling Photosynthesis: | In this lesson, students will actively manipulate materials to model the reactants and products of photosynthesis. A PowerPoint presentation is provided as is a worksheet that can be collected as a summative assessment. |
Carbon Cycle Card Game: | In this lesson, students will create carbon cycle character game cards and work in small groups to play a turn-based game. They will play the game by placing their own card on a central card pile to identify the next step in the carbon cycle. As each card is played, the players will then brainstorm on how the carbon atom was transferred from the previous card to the recently-played card. The final activity will involve student groups creating a poster model of their carbon atom journey and going on a 'gallery walk' to observe the carbon cycles of other groups. Each set of cards is unique because it is produced by the students! |
Modeling the Law of Conservation of Mass in the Environment: | This lesson provides a PowerPoint on the four main cycles of matter and how they follow the Law of Conservation of Mass. The instruction is followed by time for the student to build their own models and explain how they demonstrate the Law of Conservation of Mass. |
Is a Cycle a Circle? The Carbon Cycle: | This is an active learning lesson plan in which students will act as carbon atoms and move through various stages of the carbon cycle. They will visit the living and nonliving parts of the carbon cycle and record which reservoirs they visit. They will then compare their journey to that of other students. The culminating activity will involve students completing a drawn model of the carbon cycle that explains each of the possible steps. |
Energy Conservation in an Ecosystem: | This activity is a lab exercise where students look at the passing of water in cups and compare it to the available energy in an ecosystem. During this activity, students will be actively engaged in modeling energy transfer. Students will collect data, graph it and respond to reflection questions to connect the data to what happens in an ecosystem. Once complete, students will apply their observations to food chains and the Law of Conservation of Mass and Energy. This activity is a great way to lead into a discussion of local ecosystems and native species. |
R-E-S-P-I-R-E, Find Out What It Means To Me!: | This lesson will help students understand the concepts of cellular respiration and fermentation with multiple-day activities. Students will be able to compare and contrast the two processes through the use of an interactive lab where students will provide varied amounts of sugar to yeast and record CO2 production. |
A Timeline of a Hypothetical Carbon Atom with a Narrative: | This lesson is designed to have students investigate the possible path that a hypothetical atom of carbon could have taken before it ended up in them. The students, in groups, will first brainstorm all the information they know about carbon. They will then be given twenty flash cards. The students will be asked to depict five placements of the carbon longitudinally through time, with approximate dates, until it ends up in them in present day. The students will gather information from class discussion and the cards themselves in order to portray the possible path. After the timeline is completed, the students will be asked to compose a narrative from the perspective of the hypothetical carbon atom that will describe each of the events in the timeline. |
Kinetic Energy and Carbon Dioxide: | Students investigate the increase of their respiration rate of carbon dioxide due to the change of energy from chemical potential energy to kinetic energy. This lesson plan involves students doing physical activities to see the change from potential to kinetic energy. |
Lots of Fish in the Sea?: | So many fish in the sea? How does our changing climate bear on marine life and the carbon balance on our planet? Students will examine applications of the Laws of Conservation of Mass and Energy and determine how all the pieces fit together. Students will learn about attempted solutions to the problem of increased carbon dioxide and evaluate effectiveness. |
Cellular Processes: Aerobic and Anaerobic Respiration: | This lesson is an introduction lesson that provides students with the basics concepts of aerobic and anaerobic respiration. The lesson centers around a reading passage and lab activity. By the end of the lesson students should be able to complete a concept map to compare and contrast aerobic and anaerobic respiration. |
The Link between Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration: | This is a lesson that addresses standards and misconceptions associated with Big Idea 18 about Matter and Energy Transformations as related to photosynthesis and cellular respiration. The lesson also embeds a review of other related standards for which the students possesses prior knowledge. The lesson is vertically aligned to review classification of organisms, taxonomy, and build from related introductory activities into learning about cell types, organelles and their structures, and functions, with an emphasis on the chloroplast and the mitochondrion and their role in photosynthesis and cellular respiration. The lesson scaffolds text coding, note taking, charting, answering media dependent questions and culminates in a summative written essay assessment. An alternative short response exam has been included which could be used as an exam or the questions could be used as formative questions throughout the lesson. |
Law of Conservation of Mass and Living Systems: | The students will explore using open and closed systems can be used to explain the Law of Conservation of Mass. The students will also observe a chemical reaction to determine if mass is conserved. The student will also perform research to understand that living systems follow the Law of Conservation of Mass. |
What if ….you never saw another shell?: | This lesson connects the Carbon Cycle with the elevation of global temperatures causing dissolution of carbon-containing substances and rise in acidity. Students conduct a simulation experiment and model carbon loss due to temperature changes lowering pH. |
Photosynthesis - From Light to Food: | This lesson will elaborate on the topic of photosynthesis and clear up any misconceptions that your students may have with regard to the purpose of photosynthesis. Students will learn the roles of light, carbon dioxide, water, and chlorophyll; about food production; and about the release of oxygen by plants. |
Non-Stop Action: Carbon: | Students will learn about the carbon cycle through videos, notes, model building, and culminate with written responses. |
Plants Need Light Too! (Photosynthesis in Plants): | In this lesson, students will investigate the process photosynthesis. They will focus on identification of reactants - carbon dioxide, water and light energy, and products - glucose, water, and oxygen by utilizing interactive game pieces. Students will write an explanation of the process of photosynthesis. |
BTB-How Does It Work?: | Students will investigate how BTB works. Under what conditions does a color change occur? What causes the color change? This is a precursor to labs in which the students are investigating respiration or photosynthesis and using BTB as an indicator. |
Exercise and Respiration: | Students will investigate the process of respiration by investigating the question: How does exercise affect the amount of carbon dioxide exhaled? They will use bromothymol blue to time how fast it changes color before and after exercising. They will be guided into an understanding of the process of cellular respiration. |
Bubbling with Excitement Over Photosynthesis: | Light is necessary for photosynthesis to occur. In this activity students will expose aquatic plants to varying amounts of light and record the amount of bubbles produced as a result. |
Traveling Carbon Atoms: | Students will play the role of a carbon atom and will move to different stations in the class room learning about ways in which carbon can move between and among organisms and their environment. |
Vetted resources students can use to learn the concepts and skills in this topic.