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Identify the reactants, products, and basic functions of photosynthesis.
Standard #: SC.912.L.18.7
Standard Information
General Information
Subject Area: Science
Grade: 912
Body of Knowledge: Life Science
Standard: Matter and Energy Transformations -

A. All living things are composed of four basic categories of macromolecules and share the same basic needs for life.

B. Living organisms acquire the energy they need for life processes through various metabolic pathways (primarily photosynthesis and cellular respiration).

C. Chemical reactions in living things follow basic rules of chemistry and are usually regulated by enzymes.

D. The unique chemical properties of carbon and water make life on Earth possible.
Date Adopted or Revised: 02/08
Content Complexity Rating: Level 2: Basic Application of Skills & Concepts - More Information
Date of Last Rating: 05/08
Status: State Board Approved
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Lesson Plans
  • Lesson 3: Productivity #

     This lesson covers:

    •Why microalgae are important to all life on Earth

    •How nutrients enter the ocean

    •The relationship between microalgae, nutrients, and productivity

  • Lesson 5: Harmful Algal Blooms #

     This lesson covers:

    •What harmful algal blooms are

    •How harmful algal blooms occur

    •Different types of harmful algal blooms and where they occur in Florida

  • Photosynthesis: Let's Grow This! # Students will learn the process of photosynthesis by designing an experiment to distinguish between the light and dark stages of photosynthesis.
  • Photosynthesis with Spinach # This is an engaging lesson using probeware to look at photosynthesis and respiration with spinach leaves.
  • Where'd that come from?!? # This is a lab activity resource to accompany learning of photosynthesis and the Calvin cycle. Students are able to measure change in water conditions and gaseous production associated with autotrophs.
  • Corn Conundrum # The Corn Conundrum MEA provides students with an agricultural problem in which they must work as a team to develop a procedure to select the best variety of corn to grow under drier conditions predicted by models of global climate change. Students must determine the most important factors that make planting crops sustainable in restricted climate conditions for the client. The main focus of this MEA is manipulating factors relating to plant biology, including transpiration and photosynthesis. Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought processes. MEAs follow a problem-based, student-centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEAs visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx
Original Student Tutorial
Perspectives Video: Experts
Perspectives Video: Teaching Idea
Presentation/Slideshow
  • Cell Processes and Energy: Photosynthesis and Respirataion # This presentation, a narrated PowerPoint, provides detailed information regarding photosynthesis and cellular respiration. It is provided by a teacher for his students, but is well-done and engaging enough to be useful for other students.
Text Resource
  • Captured: The Moment Photosynthesis Changed the World # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Geologists have made an important discovery about the origins of photosynthesis. According to evidence in South African rocks, before organisms were using water as the electron source for photosynthesis, they were using manganese - these rocks formed in anoxic conditions, but contain oxidized manganese. This evolution of photosynthetic organisms, which released atmospheric oxygen, laid the groundwork for more complex life forms, such as animals, to come into existence.
Tutorials
  • Photosynthesis: The Calvin Cycle #
    This tutorial is a step by step explanation of what occurs in photosynthesis during the Calvin Cycle. It describes and uses visuals for the chemical reactions in this biochemical pathway. This challenging tutorial addresses the standard at a high level of complexity.
  • Photosynthesis: The Light Reaction #
    This tutorial shows and describes what occurs during the light reactions of photosynthesis which is the first stage of photosynthesis when plants capture and store energy from sunlight. In this process, light energy is converted into chemical energy, in the form of the energy-carrying molecules ATP and NADPH.
  • CAM Plants # This Khan Academy video explains how CAM plants fix carbon dioxide at night so they do not lose water by opening their stomata during the day.
  • C4 Photosynthesis # The Khan Academy video discusses how some plants avoid photorespiration by fixing carbon in the bundle sheath cells instead of the mesophylll cells.
  • Photorespiration # This Khan Academy video reviews the Calvin Cycle in C3 photosynthesis and discusses the reactants and products of this process. The video then describes photorespiration which is what occurs when the enzyme RuBisCO fixes oxygen instead of carbon dioxide and explains why this is considered an inefficient pathway for plants.
  • Photosynthesis: The Light Reactions # This Khan Academy tutorial explains in detail the process of the light reactions of photosynthesis including the importance of the thylakoid membrane and the products that are produced from this reaction.
  • Photosynthesis: The Calvin Cycle # This Khan Academy tutorial explains how the by-products from the light reactions of photosynthesis are used to produce sugar molecules in the Calvin Cycle.
  • The Simple Story of Photosynthesis and Food # Photosynthesis is an essential part of the exchange between humans and plants. Amanda Ooten walks us through the process of photosynthesis, also discussing the relationship between photosynthesis and carbohydrates, starch, and fiber -- and how the air we breathe is related to the food we ingest.
  • Nature's Smallest Factory: The Calvin Cycle # A hearty bowl of cereal gives you the energy to start your day, but how exactly did that energy make its way into your bowl? It all begins with photosynthesis, the process that converts the air we breathe into energizing glucose. Cathy Symington details the highly efficient second phase of photosynthesis -- called the Calvin cycle -- which converts carbon dioxide into sugar with some clever mix-and-match math.
Video/Audio/Animations
  • Photosynthesis #
    • Observe the photosynthesis mechanism in the plant
    • Learn about the main chemical reactions that takes place during photosynthesis
    • Learn how solar energy is converted into chemical energy
  • MIT BLOSSOMS - Roots, Shoots, and Wood # The topic of photosynthesis is a fundamental concept in biology, chemistry, and earth science. Educational studies have found that despite classroom presentations, most students retain their naïve idea that a plant's mass is mostly derived from the soil, and not from the air. To call students' attention to this misconception, at the beginning of this lesson we will provide a surprising experimental result so that students will confront their mental mistake. Next, we will help students better envision photosynthesis by modeling where the atoms come from in this important process that produces food for the planet. This lesson can be completed in 50-60 minutes, with the students working on in-class activities during 20-25 minutes of the lesson. As a prerequisite, students need an introductory lesson on photosynthesis, something that includes the overall chemical equation. If students have already studied the intracellular photosynthetic process in detail, this video can still be very helpful because students often miss the big picture about photosynthesis. Materials needed include red, white and black LEGO bricks (described in downloadable hand-out) or strips of red, white and black paper plus paper clips (directions provided in downloadable hand-out). In addition to class discussions, the major in-class activity of this video involves the students' modeling with LEGO® bricks or colored paper where the atoms come from in photosynthesis.
  • Cellular Respiration # These animations show cell respiration as a big picture, and then go through the steps of cellular respiration: glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, and electron transport. Each animation is short and to the point.
  • Photosynthesis # This video provides an overview of photosynthesis.
  • Photosynthesis animation and other cell processes in animation # This site has fantastic short Flash animations of intricate cell processes, including photosynthesis and the electron transport chain.
  • Photosynthesis: Light Reactions and Photophosphorylation # This video gives more detail on the light reaction and photophosphorylation that occur in photosynthesis.
STEM Lessons - Model Eliciting Activity
  • Corn Conundrum # The Corn Conundrum MEA provides students with an agricultural problem in which they must work as a team to develop a procedure to select the best variety of corn to grow under drier conditions predicted by models of global climate change. Students must determine the most important factors that make planting crops sustainable in restricted climate conditions for the client. The main focus of this MEA is manipulating factors relating to plant biology, including transpiration and photosynthesis. Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought processes. MEAs follow a problem-based, student-centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEAs visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx
Original Student Tutorials Science - Grades 9-12
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