Photosynthesis in One big post!!!

We went through Photosynthesis specifically Thursday - Today.  Thursday I was out for a genetics update conference - but you went through the directed reading with the sub and had the following Daily Questions:

He also went through what you had read in the book - and what you should have down in your directed reading - and we went over these TOGETHER on Friday and started to use out Photosynthesis models to "act out" photosynthesis.

 A Really neat way to show you how the colors we SEE are actually what is being REFLECTED is in this YouTube Video:

 

And here is where the Photosynthesis Models Came in:

Light Dependent Reaction:
Water splitting:

Energy from the Sun - Causes electrons to get excited - Water that has entered via the roots.... Gets Split apart......(see next picture)

The Hydrogen ions are then pumped through different photosystems but what WE really care about is that each oxygen binds with one OTHER oxygen to create O2 (molecular oxygen that we breath) which is then released into the atmosphere)

DURING this time - Two energy carriers are created.  Remember.... Energy is STORED in chemical bonds and RELEASED when bonds are broken.  We used out brightly colored beads to represent our energy molecules:

NADP and ADP are in the chloroplast already.

Another Phosphate is Added to ADP to create ATP.

A Hydrogen ion is added to NADP to create NADPH

 These two energy  molecules are what will fuel that second state of photosynthesis.

Today's Daily Questions related to the what we have done so far with photosynthesis:

 

Then we went into the production of Glucose (IN A VERY simplified form)

 

 

Using Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere (along with a 3 carbon organic compound in the plant) we produced a 6 carbon organic compound. (The picture shows ONLY the carbons - remember thought that glucose has the chemical formula C₆H₁₂O₆)

The ENERGY required from this came from the transfer of a Phosphate group (the orange bead) and the removal of a H+ from the NADPH)

 

I also made most of you listen to the annoying (but VERY accurate) rap as a wrap up....