Science Time - Middle School Life Science Pt 6: Powerhouse Processes

In this 5 week course, students will have an awesome opportunity to look at the 2 most important processes for human energy: Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration. We will focus on 3 main parts of photosynthesis and cellular respiration: Reactants, Processes and Products. 

To begin, this class will introduce a very important fact about the world... All of our energy comes from plants... WHAT!? That's right, we are going to first look at photosynthesis: The process that is responsible for the creation of energy on Earth. We are going to discuss the reactants, processes and products of photosynthesis in our first 2 weeks. Then, we will create a connection between photosynthesis and cellular respiration. These 2 processes provide a unique connection between the animal and plant kingdoms. Within aerobic cellular respiration, we will analyze the key reactants, processes (Glycolysis, Kreb's/Citric Acid Cycle and Electron Transfer Phosphorylation) and products. Once we have connected photosynthesis and aerobic cellular respiration, we will understand how humans specifically use aerobic and anaerobic cellular respiration in various activities, like walking, sprinting, jumping, weightlifting, swimming, etc. 

These processes are somewhat complex, but they are very visual. Throughout the 5 weeks, I will provide numerous visual aids (pictures, videos, etc.) to aid in each student's comprehension of the processes. Also, we will create our own visual aids using a tool of the student's choice (computer drawing program, poster board, paper, a notebook, etc.). 

Class Schedule: 
Week 1: Intro to Photosynthesis - Reactants and Processes Overview
Week 2: Deep Dive into Photosynthesis - Processes and Products
Week 3: Intro to Cellular Respiration - Reactants and Aerobic vs. Anaerobic
Week 4: Deep Dive into Cellular Respiration - Processes and Products
Week 5: Cellular Respiration and the Human Connection - Students will select an activity that they like to do (sprinting, swimming, weightlifting, hiking, etc.) and diagram how their bodies create and sustain energy for that activity.