TEACHING THE PHOTOSYNTHESIS LESSON
Co-Teaching Video from BLOSSOMS:
This interactive video can be used to co-teach the lesson with Dr. Kathleen Vandiver (inventor of this lesson). Alternatively, teachers can watch the entirety of the lesson in advance. BLOSSOMS (Blended Learning Open Source Science or Math Studies) is a collaborative initiative seeking to begin to develop a large, free repository of video modules for high school math and science classes in multiple languages.
- Roots, Shoots, and Wood (25 min - with Teacher Guide, transcript, and additional resources)
Original Teacher Guides and Resources:
- LEGO Education Photosynthesis Teacher Guide
- LEGO Education Teacher Guide Transparencies
- LEGO Education Student Worksheets
MIT Edgerton Center Molecule videos on our YouTube channel:
- Making Glucose Molecules (6 min)
CURRICULUM STANDARDS
Massachusetts State Frameworks for grades 6-8, Life Sciences (Biology) Strand:
16. Recognize that producers (plants that contain chlorophyll) use the energy from sunlight to make sugars from carbon dioxide and water through a process called photosynthesis. This food can be used immediately, stored for later use, or used by other organisms.
AAAS benchmarks:
4c, grades 9-12, Processes That Shape the Earth: Plants alter the earth's atmosphere by removing carbon dioxide from it, using the carbon to make sugars, and releasing oxygen. This process is responsible for the oxygen content of the air.
5E, grades 6-8, Flow of Matter and Energy: Food provides the fuel and the building material for all organisms. Plants use the energy from light to make sugars from carbon dioxide and water. This food can be used immediately or stored for later use. Organisms that eat plants break down the plant structures to produce the materials and energy they need to survive. Energy can change from one form to another in living things. Animals get energy from oxidizing their food, releasing some of its energy as heat. Almost all food energy comes originally from sunlight.
National Science Foundation Content Standard:
Content Standard C, grades 5-8: For ecosystems, the major source of energy is sunlight. Energy entering ecosystems as sunlight is transferred by producers into chemical energy through photosynthesis. That energy then passes from organism to organism in food webs.
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