NAME______________________________
PERIOD_____________
MODELING PHOTOSYNTHESIS
THE FORMULA
WHAT IS THE FORMAULA THAT REPRESENTS PHOTOSYNTHESIS?
______________________________________________________ (LABEL THE
REACTANTS AND PRODUCTS)
THE BONDING RULES
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6 carbons, they must have four (4) bonds
18 oxygen, they must have two (2) bonds
12 hydrogen, they must have one (1) bond
36 chemical bonds, represented by the toothpick
 Each toothpick going into the candies represents a bond
There will be 24 Chemical bonds in the glucose molecule
 One Double bond
 23 single bonds
THE TASK
USE CANDY AND TOOTHPICKS TO MODEL THE PROCESSES OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS & CELLULAR RESPIRATION
1) Open your bag and figure out what each piece represents
a) Make a key/legend for your materials
2) Create a 6 Water (H20) and 6 Carbon Dioxide(CO2) Molecules
a) Draw the molecules in the table below
Key:
3) Create a Glucose (C6H1206) molecule
a) This is a linear (straight) molecule
b) The carbons are all straight down the center
c) Draw the molecules in the table below
4) What do you have left over?
a) Draw the molecules in the table below
MOLECULE
FORMULA
DRAWING
CARBON DIOXIDE
WATER
OXYGEN
GLUCOSE
ANALYSIS QUESTIONS:
PHOTOSYNTHESIS QUESTIONS
1. After you made glucose from carbon dioxide and water, did you have atoms left over?
a. If so, which atoms were they?
2. Are these atoms useful to any other living things? If so, what?
3. Write the formula for photosynthesis.
4. Where does the energy come in photosynthesis?
5. What is the purpose of the glucose that the plants make?
6. We know plants need carbon dioxide and water. What else do plants need and how do they get it?
7. What is the connection between plants and global climate change?
Right now you are using the potential chemical energy stored in your cells to read this question. The process
through which organic molecules are broken down to release their potential energy is called cellular
respiration.
CELLULAR RESPIRATION QUESTIONS
8. Write the formula for cellular respiration
9. Compare the formula for cell respiration with the formula for photosynthesis.
a. How are the two reactions related?
10. What are the waste products of cell respiration and are they useful?
11. Why do you think that we use the term of “burning energy” when we talk about food?
12. Which types of the macromolecules do you think provide the most available energy?