Essay on Carbon Dioxide and Cellular Respiration Releases

Submitted By gcm19990428
Words: 2435
Pages: 10

Cellular Respiration and Alcoholic Fermentation
Biology: The Dynamics of Life (Glencoe)
Unit 3 The Life of a Cell Chapter 9 Energy in a Cell
Section 9.3 Getting Energy to Make ATP

Guiding Question(s)
How do plant and animal cells release energy? How do organisms produce energy in the absence of oxygen? What is the evidence for cellular respiration in animals?

Context of Lesson
Cellular respiration is carried out by every cell in both plants and animals. Cellular respiration is a bioenergetic process by which food is broken down by the body’s cells to produce energy in the form of ATP molecules. Cells can release energy in two processes: cellular respiration and fermentation. Aerobic cellular respiration requires oxygen but anaerobic fermentation does not. Cellular respiration releases more useable energy than fermentation.

The first experiment involves the breakdown of food molecules by yeast in the absence of oxygen. The production of bubbles (carbon dioxide) can be used to observe that anaerobic respiration (alcoholic fermentation) is taking place.

The second activity demonstrates the role of “breathing” in cellular respiration. Students will observe that CO2 is one of the waste products of aerobic cellular respiration. Students will blow bubbles into a beaker of water containing bromothymol blue. Bromothymol blue is a pH indicator that remains blue in basic solutions and turns yellow in acidic solutions (specifically: blue above pH 7.6, yellow below pH 6.0). Carbonic acid forms when the exhaled carbon dioxide mixes with water and turns the BTB yellow. Students should observe that fermentation and aerobic cellular respiration produce carbon dioxide as a waste product.

Main Goals/ Objectives
Students will be able to:
Explain the differences between aerobic and anaerobic respiration
Develop an understanding of ATP as an energy source
Compare and contrast the reactants and products associated with anaerobic fermentation and aerobic cellular respiration
Create a graphic presentation of collected data using Excel or a similar computer program

In addition, students will be able to:
Explain that scientific knowledge should be based on empirical data.
Explain that explanations are developed from a combination of collected data and what is already known.

Nature of Science: Integrated Theme
Distinguish observations from inferences, explain that inferences should be based on observations and explain that the development of scientific knowledge involves both observations and inferences so scientific knowledge is partially inferential.
Explain that scientists’ background knowledge and creativity influence their doing inquiry so they may have different observations and interpretations of the same phenomena.
Explain that scientific knowledge should be based on empirical data.

Scientific Inquiry: Integrated Theme
Explain that scientific investigations all begin with a question, but do not necessarily test a hypothesis
Explain that there is no single scientific method and provide at least two different methods
Explain that inquiry procedures are guided by the question asked
Explain that all scientists performing the same procedures may not get the same results
Explain that inquiry procedures can influence the results
Explain that research conclusions must be consistent with the data collected
Explain that scientific data are not the same as scientific evidence
Explain that explanations are developed from a combination of collected data and what is already known

General Alignment to Standards
ILS Goals
STATE GOAL 11: Understand the processes of scientific inquiry and technological design to investigate questions, conduct experiments and solve problems.
A. Know and apply the concepts, principles and processes of scientific inquiry.
ILS 11.A.4a Formulate hypothesis referencing prior research and knowledge
ILS 11.A.4b Conduct controlled experiments or simulations to