Cellular Respiration

Watch as garbage trucks dump our trash in a landfill. Flies land on the food
waste and lay their eggs. The maggots eat the waste food and become
flies thus entering into a cycle of life. Watch a cow eat grass and leave a
cowpat behind. Mushrooms may sprout from that pat and end up being
food for another organism. One thing’s trash, or waste becomes another
living thing’s food. You are no different - consider the food you eat and the
air you breathe.

Imagine seeing a view that includes a huge forest. ‘ Wow’, you sigh. As you
take a breath consider part of the air you are taking in is plant trash. Yes,
that’s right when plants turn sunlight and carbon dioxide gas into sugar
molecules they produce oxygen, which they do not need. You on the other
hand need that oxygen to stay alive.
 The Humongous Complicated Big Recycling Scheme

What happens to the paper and cardboard you toss in the recycling bin?
It’s shredded, pulped, mixed and rolled before being made into something
new. Your body does the same with the air and food it takes in.
Remember when we discussed polymers being long chains of molecules -
we talked about your body getting these building blocks from the food your
body digests. The building blocks are rearranged to form new substances -
your food becomes part of you !

Your body digests, or breaks down food into smaller units that it can use.
The air you breathe in plays an important role in you being able to get
energy from food. Oxygen helps your body make thirteen times are much
energy from your food than you would without it.

Air is only half of what you need to make the energy you need. Plants can
provide us with the other half too. We have to eat them first - yummy.
Glucose is a sugar that has 6 carbon atoms that your cells use to produce
energy. Your body gets this glucose from the food you eat.
 Mighty Mitochondria

Breathing and eating are the easiest things in the world but how does
your body turn oxygen and glucose into energy? Mitochondria to the
rescue! Some scientists believe that mitochondria were once organisms
that were taken in by other cells and thus became part of their organelle
collection. Mitochondria has its own DNA which comes only from your
mum. The mitochondria in your body carry out a chemical reaction called
cellular respiration.
 The Process of Cellular Respiration

ATP is the energy currency of the cell. ATP stands for adenosine
triphosphate. See the 3 P’s surrounded by O’s (for oxygen) ? That’s the 3
phosphate groups - triphosphate.

Cellular respiration is very complex and you will love learning all the details
in high school in biology class so we will keep it simple here.

Here is the chemical equation:

 1 molecule 6 molecules
6 molecules 38 molecules
of glucose of oxygen
of carbon 6 molecules of ATP
dioxide of water

Glucose and oxygen ‘react’ Carbon dioxide and water are

together so are called the produced through this reaction so
REACTANTS are called the PRODUCTS.
ATP is generated in this process.

There are 3 main stages of cellular respiration.

1. In the cytoplasm of the cell, glycolysis occurs. Glycolysis translates to
mean ‘lysis’, breaking down or splitting of glucose. Glucose splits in 2
molecules - each with 3 carbon atoms.
2. The 3 carbon molecules then move into the mitochondria. Krebs Cycle
take place next. Energy rich molecules are created.(NADH and FADH2)
3. These energy rich molecules are used to power the electron transport
chain. This transport chain creates energy which is used to make ATP.
 Anaerobic vs Aerobic Respiration

OK we’re almost done. Keep going.

ATP is generated by adding a phosphate group to ADP (adenosine

diphosphate).

If you are breathing in lots of oxygen then for every molecule of glucose
used you can generate 38 lovely ATP molecules to power your body.

If however you have been running for a while and you are gasping for air
with a stitch in your side then I am guessing you are low on oxygen in your
muscles. You know that feeling when your legs are really tired - that’s
caused by lactic acid building up in your muscles. Lactic acid is produced
when there’s not enough oxygen to react with the glucose. This also means
that for every molecule of glucose you are only producing a measly 2
molecules of ATP ! This is called anaerobic (without oxygen) respiration and
only includes stage 1, the part that happens in your cytoplasm.
 Anaerobic Respiration - Without Oxygen

Anaerobic respiration is put to use to produce bread and alcoholic

drinks. Yeast breaks down sugars as it respires. If the supply of
oxygen is limited then anaerobic respiration occurs and alcohol is
produced. Carbon dioxide is a product of this reaction that makes the
bread rise as the gas bubbles form inside the dough. This gas is also
responsible for the ‘fizz’ in ginger beer.

Ginger beer - with carbon

Fluffy bread - air pockets created dioxide bubbles
by carbon dioxide from yeast.
 Amazing Reactions Enabling Life

Cellular respiration produces ATP so we can move, our cells can reproduce,
we can produce proteins and all the substances our cells need. There is no
down time for mitochondria as they work hard to power our bodies
constantly.

Think about prokaryotes that do not possess mitochondria - how do you

imagine they generate the ATP they need for life?

Next time you’re exercising picture your mitochondria working overtime to

produce the energy you need.
 Demonstration of Understanding for Cellular Respiration
Record a podcast.
Pretend you host a 5 minutes
podcast on all things scientific.
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Like to sing?
Write a song / rap.
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Poetry whiz?
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Enjoy drawing?
Create a comic strip.
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Doodle master?
Create a doodle notes type piece
of work.
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Interview a cell / mitochondria
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Visual-spatial learner
Create your own graphic
organiser.
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Thespian?
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acting out parts.
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 8 points 6 points 4 points 2 points

Clear explanation of All steps and One key piece of 2-3 pieces of key >3 pieces of
cellular respiration pertinent info info missing info missing important info
included missing

Anaerobic and Differences and Some differences Little info No comparison

aerobic respiration similarities clearly and similarities comparing 2 made
compared explained apparent processes.

Connection to Student makes Work is not Little relevant No connection to

existing knowledge sound connections anchored to any connection shown other knowledge
between existing existing
background phenomena

Overall impression, Well planned and Executed in Little planning No planning -

mechanics executed, no errors organised planned resulting in an haphazard. Multiple
manner. 1-2 unorganised piece errors resulting in
grammatical errors. of work. >2 errors distractions from
content.