This chapter will deal with photosynthesis: the series of chemical reactions in plants and other organisms that use carbon dioxide to form food (carbohydrates)
A) Web site name: FCCJ
Web URL: http://web.fccj.org/~dbyres/photosyn.html
Read the section on Photosynthesis
1) What does "photo synthesis" literally mean ? _________________________ _____________________________________________________________
2) In which country was Van Helmont born? ___________________________
3) What did Van Helmont's experiment show about plants ? _______________
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4) In 1766 Joseph Priestley had a meeting with _________________________
5) How did Joseph Priestley find that plants produce oxygen ? _____________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________
6) What type of drink did Priestley invent? ____________________________
7) What did Jan Ingenhousz discover about photosynthesis? _______________
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• What two colors of light are most effective in photosynthesis ? _________________ and ________________
B) Web site name : University of Illinois : The virtual cell
Web URL : http://www.life.uiuc.edu/plantbio/cell/
Read the section "Plant Cell" then return to the top of the page, select "Zoom", in the "Search" area click on the down arrow and select "chloroplast". Then click on the diagram of the cell.
When you see the green chloroplast, select "Cut" then click again on the chloroplast. You can click several times on it to gradually zoom in. Remember to read the information under the diagram every time you see a new view.
• What is the "grana" ? ___________________________________________
10) What is the "stroma"____________________________________________
When you get to a high magnification, click on "Function" ( under the Zoom button ) then click on the diagram once more to see light being absorbed by the chloroplast.
C) Web site name : Online Biology Book
Web URL : http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookPS.html
11) Which two living things, apart from plants , can carry out photosynthesis? ________________________________________________________
12) Write down the chemical equation for photosynthesis : ___________________________________________________________
13) What is the function of xylem? _________________________________
• How does carbon dioxide enter the leaf?
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• What is a pigment ? ________________________________________
• Where in the chloroplast do the Light Reactions take place ? ____________
• In the light reactions the energy is converted into: __________ and ______________.
• Which photosystem ( P680 or P700 ) splits water ? _________________
• Where do "halobacteria" live? ___________________________________
• When did Calvin win the Nobel Prize for Chemistry? _________________
D. Web site name: Arizona State University
Web URL: http://photoscience.la.asu.edu/photosyn/study.html
Read "Why study photosynthesis"
• What three examples of stored energy come from photosynthesis?
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• What does a plant use carbohydrates for? ____________________________
• What country uses ethanol as a major automobile fuel? _________________
• What is the connection between plastics and photosynthesis? ____________
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• Why does photosynthesis counteract the effect of combustion of fossil fuels?
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• List one more reason that photosynthesis is important:
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E. Web site name: Scientific American
Web URL: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0005DF26-7ABD-1D94-9275809EC5880105&sc=I100322
Read "The Warm Hues of Fall Foliage"
27) What was the original explanation for the red color of fall leaves, back at the
turn of the 20 th century?
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28) Why does sunlight do more damage to the leaf in the fall than in the summer?
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29) What experiment with dogwood leaves supports the idea of the red color being
sunscreen?
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30) What parts of the cell can be damaged by "free radicals"?
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31) Why does Linda Chalker-Scott disagree with the "sunscreen" idea?
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32) What other explanations have been suggested for the red colors?
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33) Why do none of the theories fully explain the red colors of fall?
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