Analyzing Cellular Respiration

Assignment Summary
In this assignment, you will gather evidence to construct an explanation of how energy and matter move through the environment under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. You will then conduct additional guided research to revise your explanation based on the new information you discover.
Background Information
Cellular respiration is a process that allows organisms to produce energy to maintain life. The process involves a series of chemical reactions that use glucose and oxygen to produce carbon dioxide, water, and the high energy molecule, ATP. Organisms, including plants, undergo cellular respiration to create energy that they can use to maintain life processes. Cellular respiration may be aerobic, a type of respiration that requires oxygen, or anaerobic, a type of respiration that can occur in an environment with no or minimal oxygen.
Assignment Instructions
Step 1: Prepare for the project.
a) Read the entire Student Guide before you begin this project.
b) If anything is not clear to you, ask your teacher for assistance before you begin.
c) Gather the materials you will need to complete this project.
Step 2: Gather evidence to construct your explanation.
a) Research ways in which cells get energy.
b) Use these guided questions to conduct your research:
i. How do cells in plants (i.e., trees, flowers, etc.) get energy?
ii. How do cells in animals (i.e., birds, horses, humans, etc.) get energy?
iii. What is an obligate anaerobe? How do obligate anaerobes, like the bacteria C. botulinum, get energy?
iv. How does each type of organism get the energy it needs for its essential life processes?
v. How do organisms get the nutrients they need to survive?
vi. How do nutrients move through an environment? What drives the movement of nutrients?
Step 3: Construct an explanation based on the evidence you gathered.
a) Create a typewritten document.
i. Be sure to put your name at the top.
ii. Include any other information your teacher would like on the document.
b) Use the evidence you gathered to write 1–2 paragraphs in response to the prompt below:
i. Describe how energy and matter move through the environment under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions.
Step 4: Conduct additional research to discover new information.
a) Conduct additional research on chemosynthetic organisms.
b) Use these guided questions to conduct your research:
i. What is chemosynthesis?
ii. How do chemosynthetic organisms get energy? Some examples of organisms include colorless sulfur bacteria, iron bacteria, and giant tube worms (Riftia parchyptila).