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Humans haven’t yet figured out how to turn energy from the sun into chemical energy, or how to use that energy to support life—but producers have. From the basic parts of the cell to isolating the variables in photosynthesis inputs, this Digital Teaching Box contains classroom-tested, NGSS-aligned resources for teaching photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
Grade Level & Course
High school biology
Author & Affiliation
Julie Thompson
Biology teacher, Boulder High School
Time Estimate
Three weeks
Concepts Covered
Photosynthesis
Cellular respiration
This unit introduces students to the basic functional units of the cell and gives them the tools to get up close and personal with cells all around them. By pairing the parts and functions of the cell with basic microscope skills, students can make deep connections between what they learn and what they see on the slides they make.
Use the POGIL process to help students learn about the organelles of the cell.
Resource Attribution
POGIL Activities for High School Biology
Resource Type
Classroom Activity
Equip students to use compound microscopes with this activity.
Resource Attribution
Katie Ward, Aragon High School
Resource Type
Classroom Activity
Introduce students to cells from a variety of kingdoms by preparing and looking at them through the microscope.
Resource Attribution
Katie Ward, Aragon High School
Resource Type
Classroom Activity
Teaching Notes
Beginning the unit by addressing the structures of the cell and its organelles allows students to place in context the relative sizes of these structures and their relationships to each other.
The cell is an enclosed unit. Or is it? This unit explores the boundaries between cells and the outside world—how the cell membrane allows some substances in and out, allowing photosynthesis and cellular respiration to take place.
This lecture offers students a basic understanding of the structure of the cell membrane and how different types of molecules pass through it.
Resource Attribution
Julie Thompson
Resource Type
Lecture
Teaching Notes
Use this lecture either before or after the lab included in this unit.
Expose students to osmosis in action. By making predictions, observing, and collecting and analyzing data, students see the cell membrane at work.
Resource Attribution
Julie Thompson
Resource Type
Classroom Activity
Teach students the ins and outs of photosynthesis and cellular respiration—literally. This unit includes lectures and hands-on activities emphasizing the inputs, mechanisms, and outputs of these life-supporting processes.
Allow students to see and identify the inputs and outputs of photosynthesis for themselves in this lab.
Resource Attribution
Julie Thompson (based on an activity from Brad Williamson)
Resource Type
Classroom Activity
Teaching Notes
This laboratory activity can be used to test various factors that affect the rate of photosynthesis. For example, if the spinach-disks sample is placed in the dark, no bubbles form, suggesting photosynthesis requires light. Or, if a student performs the protocol but chooses to leave out the bicarbonate (which acts as a source of CO2), no bubbles will form, suggesting CO2 is necessary for photosynthesis. The end goal is for students to make claims regarding the inputs and outputs of photosynthesis based on data.
Extension ideas: Could the glucose produced by the disks during the experiment be detected somehow?
Explore the misconception that a growing plant gets most of its mass from soil and water, rather than from CO2 produced by photosynthesis.
Resource Attribution
Julie Thompson
Resource Type
Classroom Activity
Teaching Notes
Before beginning this activity, students should be able to produce independently the correct equation for photosynthesis. This activity helps explore the common misconception that growing plants gain most of their dry mass from soil or water, when in fact most of their dry mass comes from CO2 absorbed from the air during photosynthesis. Even though students know the inputs and outputs of photosynthesis (and that there is no soil in that equation) they often predict that the mass of a plant comes from the soil.
Explore the inputs required for cellular respiration using this lab.
Resource Attribution
Julie Thompson
Resource Type
Classroom Activity
Teaching Notes
This laboratory activity can be used to test various factors that affect the rate of cellular respiration. For example, if the yeast sample is given no sugar, little CO2 is produced. Or, if a student chooses to double the amount of sugar, more CO2 is formed. The end goal is for students to make claims regarding the inputs and outputs of cellular respiration based on data.
Extension ideas: Could a test be devised to test the amount of sugar or alcohol produced by the yeast?
Introduce students to the basics of photosynthesis.
Resource Attribution
Julie Thompson
Resource Type
Lecture
Introduce students to the basics of cellular respiration.
Resource Attribution
Julie Thompson
Resource Type
Lecture
Science and Engineering Practices
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Disciplinary Core Ideas
Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes
Crosscutting Concepts
This work was supported by the Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health under Science Education Partnership Award Number R25OD016525. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
Cells aren’t just the basis of life; they’re the basis of biology learning.
This Digital Teaching Box contains resources for teaching introductory genetics.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Attribution: Exploratorium Teacher Institute