8.4

Vocab:

-carbon cycle: the process by which carbon molecules move between organic matter and organic matter.

-greenhouse: the property that keeps the earth warm by trapping heat from the sun.



Concept Check:

1. An example of inorganics carbon being transfered into organic is when a plant absorbs the CO2 from the air and produce sugar. An example of organic compound moving carbon into inorganic compounds is when animals eat food and produce CO2.


2. Cabon Dioxide is very important to the Earth's climate because they trap heat from the sun to keep earth warm during the night.

Summary:

On earth, there are many processes that life depends on, one of them is the carbon cycle where organic and inorganic compounds transfer carbon atoms between them. The carbon cycle works by plants turn CO2 into O2 and Carbon. They use the Carbon to make food for concumers whom in turn, use the food to make CO2 and water.

Global climate is affected by greenhouse effect, the effect is done by CO2 molecules in the air, they trap solar energy to keep the earth warm during the night or whenever the sun isn't there (if the sun just disapearred over night).

8.3 Summary/Concept Check

Summary:

The Calvin Cycle is the sugar making area of the chloroplast, the Calvin Cycle is just like the Krebs Cycle because the ingredients are always recycled for the next batch. The starting material in the Calvin Cycle is RuBP, a sugar with five carbon atoms. The Calvin Cycle starts with the RuBP and three CO2 molecules are combined with it to form three unstable six carbon molecules. They immediately splits into six 3 carbon molecules called 3-PGA. Later six ATP and six NADPH (from the light reactions) combine and turn 3-PGA into G3P. One G3P molecule exits the cycle to form glucose and other products. The rest of the G3P's are turned back to RuBP with the power ATP and sent back into the cycle and the ADP's and NADP+'s are sent back to the light reactions. The overall equation for Photosynthesis is "6 CO2+6 H2O --> C16H12O6+6 O2".

Concept Check:

1. The inputs and outputs of the Calvin Cycle include ATP, NADPH & CO2 and the outputs of the Calvin Cycle are ADP, NADP+ and Sugars (in the form of Starch, Fatty acids and Cellulose).



2. The ligh reaction stages uses the H2O reactant and the Calvin Cycle uses the CO2 as its reactant. But the product of the Light Reactions is O2 and for the Calvin Cycle is sugar or C6H12O6.



3. The Calvin Cycle is called a cycle because that stage regenerates the same molecules so that the cycle can go on so for instance the Calvin Cycle keeps on regenerating the RuBP molecule.



4. The sugar molecule is the direct product of photosynthesis and that molecule is then used to do construction in the plant cells and the plant itself.

Pictures:

Photosythesis Cycle:

Calvin Cycle:

Section 8.2

Summary 8.2:
Sunlight is a type of electromagnetic energy and these energy travel in waves which are alike normal ocean waves. A wavelength is the distance between two adjacent waves. The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of different types of electromagnetic energies. These types of electromagnetic energy include gamma rays, x-rays, UV, infrared and others.
Visible light is the smallest fraction of the electromagnetic spectrum, visible light consists of wavelengths from 400 nanometers to 700 nanometers. Shorter wavelengths contain more energy than longer wavelengths and any wavelengths that are smaller than 400 nanometers can cause damage to any organic molecules. So when being burned by the sun's UV rays people can develop skin cancer.
Colors are caused by chemical compounds known as pigments and whenever light shines into something that contains pigments then the wavelengths can be absorbed, transmitted or reflected. And pigments cannot absorb the same color of light.
Paper chromatography is a method to observe pigments inside a leaf. The method starts with staining a filter paper with the leaf. Then you put the filter paper into a cylinder containing solvents in a vented hood. The solvents will move up the paper and show their color.
Photosystem is the membrane of the thylakoid, they each have a few hundred pigment molecules that are like mini solar panels that absorb energy and consists of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and carotenoids. Every time a pigment molecule absorbs light energy the pigment's electron gains energy which enables it to rise from ground state to excited state. But late the energy in the electrons will jump from each other until the energy is given to a place known as the photosystem's reaction center. And the electron will be accepted into the primary electron acceptor and is trapped until it is used to make ATP or NADPH.
In the light reactions stage, two photosystems are used, one was to trap the light and transfer the excited electrons to an electron transport chain. The first photosystem is used to split water molecules and producing oxygen as a waste but also release hydrogen ions. The electron transport chain produces energy to create ATP. The second photosystem is a NADPH producing photosystem and is done by transferring excited electrons and hydrogen ions to NADP+. And this is later used inside the Calvin system to produce food.

Vocab:
-wavelength: the distance between two adjacent waves.
-electromagnetic spectrum: the range of electromagnetic energy.
-pigment: chemical compounds that decide the color of a substance.
-paper chromatography: a laboratory technique that is used to observe the pigments inside a leaf.
-photosystem: molecules that consists of clusters of chlorophyll a & b and carotenoids.

Concept Check:
1. A leaf is green because of its pigments and pigments are the chemical compounds in substances that decide what different colors they would have.

2. When a chlorophyll a molecule absorbs light they turn a electron from ground state to excited state and causes the electron to jump from molecule to molecule until it gets turned into ATP or NADPH through the primary electron acceptor.

3. Other than oxygen, ATP and NADPH is produced at the end of the light reactions stage.

4. Light reactions always take place inside the thylakoid which is inside the chloroplast.

The light reaction system.

Electromagnetic Spectrum

Section 8.1

Summary 8.1:
The organelle that photosynthesis takes place is the chloroplasts, inside these chloroplasts there is a chemical compound known as chlorophylls that are the main reason why these organelles have a green color. All the green parts in a plant is the parts that can carry out photosynthesis but the leaf of a plant has the most chloroplasts. But inside the leaf the chloroplasts are concentrated in the cells of the mesophyll. There are tiny little spores on the surface of the leaf called the stomata, the stomata is the gate between the plant and the outside world for CO2 and O2.
The chloroplasts have two membranes, the inner membrane holds a thick fluid called stroma and the things that are suspended in them are disk-shaped sacks called thylakoids. The thylakoids are stacked together called grana(pl), these grana organizes the reactions that make up photosynthesis.
The equation of photosynthesis is (CO2+H2O→→ Glucose+O2). The reaction is separated into two main steps: light reactions and the Calvin cycle. Light Reactions is the step that first uses the molecules inside the thylakoids, first they harness light and they use that light to split electrons from H2O molecules. This causes the oxygen to be pumped out because it is the waste, but the plant keeps the hydrogen atoms. The chloroplasts use the hydrogen ions to make NADPH (electron carriers) but also they use the light energy to make ATP too.
The Calvin Cycle consists of making sugar from the atoms in CO2, hydrogen ions and from NADPH. The ATP made from the light energy is used to provide energy for the Calvin Cycle.

Vocab Words:
-chloroplasts: a cellular organelle where photosynthesis takes place.

-chlorophylls: chemical compounds that give the chloroplast its color.

-stroma: a thick fluid inside the inner membrane of the chloroplast.

-thylakoids: disk-shaped sacs inside the stroma.

-light reactions: the stage that converts sunlight energy into chemical energy.

-calvin cycle: the stage that makes sugar from CO2, hydrogen ions and the NADPH.

Concept Check:
1.

<--Outer Membrane and the one right below it is the Inner Membrane.

2. The reactants for photosynthesis are CO2 and H2O and the products are glucose and O2.

3. The two main stages of photosynthesis are light reactions and Calvin Cycle, they are both related by because the light reactions supply the Calvin Cycle with energy. And the Calvin Cycle supplies them back with carriers that collect ATP energy and electrons.