Life Science Standard 5

Created Feb. 6, 2024 by Matt Brinkman

Title:  Standards-Based Life Science/Biology (Activities for credit make-up:  NGSS HS-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms:  Structures and Processes)

Author:  Matt Brinkman

Overview / Description:

These activities will satisfy the requirements for meeting life science standards for credit make-up.

Subject(s):   Life Science/Biology

Grade Level(s):   9-12

Learning goals/objectives:

After completing this activity, students should be able to:  State the products and reactants of photosynthesis.  Describe how plants use sunlight to turn oxygen and carbon dioxide into simple sugars.

Type of Activity:

  • Individual

Teaching Strategies:

  • Discussion
  • Use of Technology
  • Creating a Product

Content Standards: HS-LS1-5 Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy.

Length of Time:   1 or 2 class periods.

Materials:

  • Computer with internet access
  • Printer
  • Paper, pen or pencil
  • Various project/lab supplies as needed

Directions (Step-by-Step):

  1. Check out these websites and write a definition for photosynthesis and the following parts of a leaf:

http://www.biology4kids.com/files/plants_photosynthesis.html

http://photosynthesiseducation.com/photosynthesis-for-kids/

https://www2.estrellamountain.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookPS.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/plants/leaf/

https://www.nyu.edu/pages/mathmol/textbook/bonding.html

  • Photosynthesis:
  • Epidermis:
  • Vein:
  • Stoma/Stomata:
  • Chloroplast:
  • Chlorophyll:
  • Chemical bond:
  1. Label the parts of a Leaf

Watch the YouTube video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFAFtkDZO-4

Draw and Label the leaf as shown in the video.  Then write the function for each of the following parts in the table.

DRAWING

Leaf blade (lamina)
Main vein (midrib)
Side veins
Stalk
Stomata

Try the following online game to label the inner structures of a leaf.   http://www.purposegames.com/game/label-the-parts-of-a-leaf-game

Record your time here ___________.

  1. Plant Leaf Model- Photosynthesis

See me for the 3D model packet… you should be able to construct it in a class period or two.  It will show you how photosynthesis uses energy from the sun to rearrange the atoms in carbon dioxide and water into sugar (glucose).

  1. Cut out all the pieces.
  2. Fold the leaf along the dotted line so that the leaf can open up from the point (opposite the stem).
  3. Glue the top leaf to the bottom leaf, but ONLY GLUE THE HALF NEAREST THE STEM… the other half of the leaf will open up to see the inside of the model.
  4. Begin to glue the arrows by the following steps:
  1. The white arrows identify leaf structures.  
  1. Glue the arrows for upper epidermis and veins to point out those structures on the TOP of the leaf in the section behind the dotted line toward the stem.  
  2. Fold the top of the leaf back and glue the stoma and chloroplasts arrows pointing out each structure inside the leaf.
  1. The colored arrows identify processes and materials.  Glue them on in the following order:  
  1. First,  energy from the sun is absorbed by chlorophyll.  Glue this arrow on the TOP of the leaf in the section behind the dotted line toward the stem.  
  2. Then water enters the leaf through the stem.  Glue this arrow on the Top of the leaf where the stem joins the leaf blade.
  3. Third, Carbon Dioxide enters through the stomata.  Fold the top of the leaf back and glue this arrow pointing to a stoma in the leaf.
  4. Now, glucose and oxygen are created through the process of photosynthesis in the chloroplasts using the materials that have entered the leaf.  Glue this arrow on a chloroplast in the leaf.
  5. Finally, oxygen is released through the stomata as a waste product of the reaction.  Glue this arrow pointing OUT from a stomata, showing the oxygen leaving the leaf.
  1. Once you complete the model, answer the following:
  1. What substances are going IN to the leaf?
  1. What is being made in the leaf? ____________________  What is the chemical formula?  ___________________
  1. How are the substances going into the leaf rearranged to make the sugar?
  1. What happens with energy when chemical bonds are broken?
  1. What happens with energy when chemical bonds are re-formed?
  1. What does sunlight provide for this process?
  1. What substance(s) are going OUT of the leaf?
  1. Write a chemical equation for photosynthesis:
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