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Home > Life Science > Photosynthesis and Respiration Resources
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by Michelle Amorin, Mon Sep 05, 2011 11:36 PM
Hi,

I'm about to teach photosynthesis and respiration to my students and I need help finding worksheets, activities, and resources on the topics. This year I'm trying to go more in depth and teach it in detail like the electron transport chain and Krebs cycles. I appreciate any help.
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by Sara Kinyon, Tue Sep 06, 2011 4:11 PM
What grade level are you teaching? One great site I use for introduction to a new topic is brainpop. There is a brainpop and brainpop jr. site. They show great introductory videos on many topics. Not sure if this would work for your grade level but just an idea to get started. :)
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by Carolyn Mohr, Wed Sep 07, 2011 10:29 PM
There's another discussion thread with a few excellent resources on this topic under Life Science > Photosynthesis for Middle School
For high school resources in the Learning Center, I did a search that produced 18 items. Here are two that I thought might be of particular help to you:
Science Object: Cells & Chemical Reactions: Photosynthesis
Book Chapter: Flow of Energy and Matter: Photosynthesis
I hope this helps.
Carolyn
P.S. I almost forgot, the NSTA Learning Center Online Advisors have made a high school collection of resources that include photosynthesis - it is entitled:
Cells and Chemical Reactions High(School) Collection
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by Kara Kitamura, Mon Sep 26, 2011 10:48 AM
I am in the same situation. I actually did the sci pack for this and there was a lot of information but no real ideas for helping the students really learn this complex subject. Last year I created a drawing of the steps of photosynthesis and had the students color and label it. It seemed to help but still not perfect.
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by Kara Kitamura, Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:11 AM
In my effort to improve my respiration lesson, I found a couple resources.
This is an animation. It takes a little long but really does a great job
http://www.sumanasinc.com/webcontent/animations/content/cellularrespiration.html
This is a video of a cellular respiration song that is dorky but makes learning fun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aZrkdzrd04
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by Kathryn Kennedy, Wed Oct 12, 2011 10:54 PM
Hi all -

PBS has a great resource for introducing photosynthesis called "Illuminating Photosynthesis".

There are a couple of other interactive activities on the website that are really great.

Enjoy!
Kathryn
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by Kathryn Kennedy, Wed Oct 12, 2011 10:59 PM
Another idea I just had after re-reading Kara's post is why not have the students create a coloring or drawing of the steps of photosynthesis? This could be a great summative assessment in place of an exam. Or students could use a concept map program to create their own concept map or make a Prezi. Just another way to incorporate technology.
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by Kayla Anselmi, Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:27 PM
I like to use interactive science notebooks in my class and during my photosynthesis unit, I give my students this page. They have to cut out the parts of a chloroplast and glue them into their notebook in the right order to show the process of photosynthesis. Its a great assessment tool to check for their understanding of the process.
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Construct_a_Chloroplast.doc (0.03 MB)
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by Kayla Anselmi, Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:29 PM
One other activity that I like is this game board for photosynthesis and cellular respiration. You can print off enough game boards for small groups of students to work together, and one at a time students have to draw one of the playing cards and place it on the game board where it belongs. Its great practice for them, and my kids really enjoy it.
Attachments
Cell_Respiration_Board.doc (0.17 MB)
Photosynthesis_Board.doc (0.09 MB)
Photosynthesis_Cellular_Respiration_Playing_Cards.doc (0.03 MB)
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by Kara Kitamura, Sun Oct 23, 2011 4:38 PM
Thanks Kayla.....love this!
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by Catherine Hawkins, Sun Oct 23, 2011 9:14 PM
I have been able to check out some of the resources posted here during the week. I really enjoyed the PBS photosynthesis website and also the photosynthesis board game! What great resources for teaching the process. My first and second graders just did a school assembly where they acted out the process (on a simple level) It was exciting for them and I know they understand the process (at the first and second grade level!) It was fun! Thanks to all of the great posts, I was able to have an excellent and engaging unit on photosynthesis during our plant explorations.
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by Megan Dehning, Sun Oct 23, 2011 11:33 PM
I am a big fan of hands-on investigations for photosynthesis and respiration. I teach middle school science and absolutely LOVE the lessons laid out by Irene Salter in "My Science Box" http://www.mysciencebox.org/. The flow of lessons is fantastic, and really enables the students to discover the information themselves through investigation rather than simply being told. I highly recommend teachers check out her lessons, as she has a range for grades 1-12!
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by Kathryn Kennedy, Mon Oct 24, 2011 11:47 PM
Hi Kayla -

Thank you so much for sharing your photosynthesis and cell respiration resources! They are excellent.

What do you do for summative assessments for this unit? Do you have students do anything other than take an exam? Do you make them put together a board game in which they need to demonstrate their knowledge of what they learned from your games, but to take it a step farther? I would love to hear what you do to assess student learning.

Cheers!
Kathryn
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by Catherine Hawkins, Tue Oct 25, 2011 11:43 AM
Hi! The my science website that Megan posted is full of great stuff. I especially like the curriculum boxes and have already been scientifically inspired! Thanks for all the wonderful resources.
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by Michelle Amorin, Fri Oct 28, 2011 3:04 AM
Thank you all for your responses. I really enjoyed the photosynthesis/respiration game and the different websites that everyone shared.

I've also found this website, http://www.nclark.net/, which is great for many different subjects in biology and chemistry. It has a great list of activities, labs, and links.
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by Gerry Clarin, Sat Oct 29, 2011 2:01 AM
Thanks so much for the resources, I too have found this subject one of the harder ones to teach. The visuals and interactive websites offered on this thread are outstanding. I particularly like WH freeman flash that breaks down the krebs cycle.
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by Erin Bullock, Thu Feb 02, 2012 12:13 PM
I am also teaching a lesson on photosynthesis for fifth grade. I am a big believer in constructivist learning so other than the great idea of drawing the process ( for a summative assessment), are there any other lesson plans that help students build upon previous knowledge of plants?
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by Carolyn Mohr, Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:33 PM
Hi Erin and Welcome to the discussion threads!
The Science and Children journal for the month and year Feb 2009 has several articles about plants. You can look them over and download any into your "My Library" that you want to read. Just scroll down to the Feb 2009 journal issue and click on Articles for Purchase in this Journal: 12 (View Articles) to see all 12 titles. This article sounded particularly interesting: Honeybees, Butterflies, and Ladybugs: Partners to Plants
Enjoy.
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by Kathryn Mattila, Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:19 PM
I feel like I hit the jackpot. I will be teaching about photosynthesis and cellular respiration soon and really wanted to go a little more in-depth with my students.
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