Photosynthesis, Respiration,and the Carbon Cycle

Photosynthesis in action

Building a glucose molecule

Building water molecules

Carbon dioxide molecules

Glucose

Glucose

6 Oxygen molecules

Wednesday we modeled photosynthesis using Starburst candies to represent atoms and toothpicks to represent the chemical bonds that hold them together as molecules. We started with carbon dioxide and water and transformed them into glucose and oxygen molecules. Class was disrupted a bit by school picture taking during 3rd period, but we managed to make our way through it.

We watched a powerpoint about the carbon cycle that follows a carbon molecule through a pond ecosystem: Carbon Atom Tracker Slides.
Thursday we worked on our bird studies. Friday we had a short review quiz: Eco Picture Quiz. We spent more time on our wikisites updating our pages and doing more background research on our topics of investigation. Monday, October 15, we should all have our materials and methods figured out and posted on our sites so that we can begin collecting data or digging into the data that we are going to be using.