Name: _________________________________
Class: _______________________________
Date: _______________
6.2 Explaining Other Examples of Decomposers Growing, Moving, and FunctioningMold
All decomposers use digestion, cellular respiration, and biosynthesis to grow, move, and function.
Drawing and labeling arrows:
1. Draw lines from the cell pictures to the mold picture to show the location of each cell in the mold.
2. Draw arrows to show how carbon-containing molecules move through the mold for each cell to perform its process.*
3. Draw arrows into, through, or out of the dark-bordered cells to show how molecules move for the cell’s process.
4. Label the arrows with the kind of molecule (large organic, small organic, CO2).
Biosynthesis
Digestion (hyphal cell)
Detritus
Hyphal Cell
Cellular Respiration
* Every cell engages in biosynthesis
and cellular respiration.
Decomposers Unit, Activity 6.2
Carbon: Transformations in Matter and Energy
Environmental Literacy Project
Michigan State University
Write explanations of the cellular processes that allow mold to move, grow, and function in the boxes. Remember to answer the Three
Questions and follow the conservation rules! Be sure to connect digestion to cellular respiration and digestion to biosynthesis.
Digestion
Biosynthesis in All Mold Cells
Cellular Respiration in All Mold Cells
Remember: Atoms last forever (so you can arrange atoms into new molecules, but can’t add or subtract atoms).
Energy lasts forever (so you can change forms of energy, but energy units can’t appear or go away).
Decomposers Unit, Activity 6.2
Carbon: Transformations in Matter and Energy
Environmental Literacy Project
Michigan State University
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