1
Carbon: Transformations in Matter and Energy Environmental Literacy Project
Michigan State University
Plants
Unit
Unit Map
2
Yo u a re he re u a Yo
Revisit your arguments
Think about what
you know now that
you didn’t know
before. What have
you learned?
How do plants use food and minerals as materials
for growth?
Biosynthesis
5
Food
To Cells
Materials
for growth:
Biosynthesis
Constructing Explanations
Consider the following
as you construct your
explanation:
•
Evidence from the
investigation
•
What you learned
from the molecular
modeling or tracing
activity
•
Three Questions
Handout
Comparing Ideas with a Partner
•
Compare your explanations for each of the
Three Questions.
–
How are they alike?
–
How are they different?
•
Check your explanation with the middle- and
right-hand columns of the Three Questions
handout.
•
Consider making revisions to your explanation
based on your conversation with your partner.
Which
atoms and molecules move so
that plants can grow through
biosynthesis?
water
minerals
Glucose
How
do glucose water, and minerals move
for a plant stem cell to grow?
water
minerals
glucose
10
Matter
Movement
Do you have:
•
an arrow
showing small
organic
molecules or
monomers
(amino acids,
sugars, and fatty
acids) going into
the potato cell?
11
Matter
Movement
Do you have:
•
an arrow
showing soil
minerals going
into the
potato cell?
Soil Minerals
12
Matter
Movement
Do you have:
•
large organic
molecules (or
polymers)
What happens to small organic molecules during
biosynthesis?
Chemical change
Small organic molecules (monomers)
go into cells, but don’t come out. What
happens inside the cells?
Matter Change
Name the chemical change that potato cells use
to build large organic molecules:
Biosynthesis
Matter Change
What molecules are carbon
atoms in before the chemical
change?
Small organic molecules (or
monomers such as amino
acids, sugars, and fatty acids)
What other molecules
are needed?
None
What molecules are carbon
atoms in after the chemical
change?
Large organic molecules (or
carbohydrates, Fats/Lipids,
and Proteins)
Energy Change
What forms of energy go
into this chemical change?
Chemical Energy
What forms of energy
come out of this chemical
change?
Chemical Energy
16
Energy
Telling the Whole Story
Question:
How does a cell in the root of a potato
use food to grow and divide?
•
Does your story include these parts?
17
Matter movement: Small organic molecules (monomers, such as amino acids,
sugars, fatty acids, and glycerol) and minerals from the soil enter the potato cell.
Matter change: The small organic molecules (monomers) and soil minerals are
combined together to make large organic molecules (polymers), such as
carbohydrates, fays/lipids, and proteins. Water is produced during this process.
Energy change: The chemical energy stored in the C-C and C-H bonds in the small
organic molecules (monomers) stays in these bonds when they are combined into large organic molecules (polymers). The polymers still have chemical energy in C-C and C-H bonds after biosynthesis.
Matter movement: The cell grows bigger and may eventually divide as more
