Transformations in Matter and Energy Carbon TIME is an NSF-funded partnership led by Michigan State University
Activity 4.2: Explaining How Plants Move and Function: Cellular Respiration (40 min)
Target Student Performance
Students explain how matter moves and changes and how energy changes during cellular respiration in a potato plant’s cells.
Resources You Provide
- (from previous lesson) 3.5 Evidence-Based Arguments Tool for Plants
Resources Provided
- 4.2 Explanations Tool for Potato Cellular Respiration (1 per student)
- 4.2 Grading the Explanations Tools for Potato Cellular Respiration
- 4.2 Explaining How Potato Plants Move and Function: Cellular Respiration PPT
- 4.2 How do Plants Get the Energy They Need to Move and Function? Reading (1 per student)
Recurring Resources
- Three Questions 11x17 Poster (1 per class)
- Three Questions Handout (Color Version) (1 per student)
- Three Questions Handout (BW Version) (1 per student)
- Questions, Connections, Questions Student Reading Strategy
- Plants Matter Tracing Tool
- Assessing the Plants Matter Tracing Tool
- (Optional) Example Plant Explanations Handout (1 per student or per group)
Setup
Print one copy of the 4.2 Explanations Tool for Potato Cellular Respiration for each student. Return students’ completed versions of the 3.5 Evidence-Based Arguments Tool for Plants for review. In this activity, your students will need to use the Three Questions Explanation Checklist on the back of the Three Questions Handout. Be sure to have this available to students, and see the notes in the Modifications at the end of the Activity for ideas about how to use it.
Assessment
During the class, circulate while students are comparing their explanations. Listen to see if they are able to explain cellular respiration at both the macroscopic and atomic-molecular scales. Use 4.2 Grading the Explanations Tools for Potato Cellular Respiration to grade your students’ work on the 4.2 Explanations Tool for Potato Cellular Respiration. At this point in the lesson, students should be held accountable for correct answers. Use Grading the Plants Matter Tracking Tool to grade the tool.
Tips
- Make sure students understand that the chemical energy in glucose (not the glucose itself) is converted to heat and light energy.
- Make sure that students discuss and understand all three columns of the Three Questions 11x17 Poster or Three Questions Handout. They play a central role in all Carbon TIME units.