Year 7

Photosynthesis and Energy

Overview

The ability of the plant world to harness the Sun’s energy has created an aerobic atmosphere allowing animals to evolve on land. At the heart of this process is the most fundamental reaction on Earth, the light-driven splitting of water into its elemental constituents, hydrogen, and oxygen.

Module 1 - Leaves are the ‘factories’, powered by the Sun, that combine the hydrogen with atmospheric carbon-dioxide and synthesise sugars. Plants, as producers, are the ultimate source of food. The action is reversible, and is the pathway for both plants and animals to acquire energy, or respire.

Module 2 – How energy is measured provides the basis for calculating a food budget for an endangered bird species, the White-tailed Black cockatoo (Carnaby’s cockatoo).

Extension – A project, investigating the growth of plants receiving light of different wavelengths.

Outcomes

• revise the structures inside a plant cell

• recognise the role of the Sun as a provider of energy

• recognise the colour of an object depends on the properties of the object and the energy wavelength of the light source

• understand the equation for transforming water and carbon dioxide into an energy-rich molecule, sugar

• revise the structure of the molecule, glucose

• understand forms of energy and how energy can be measured

• learn how both plants and animals acquire the potential energy in glucose, or respire

• calculate an energy budget for Carnaby’s cockatoo

Curriculum Links

• Interactions between organisms can be described in terms of food chains and food webs; human activity can affect these interactions (ACSSU112)

• Science knowledge can develop through collaboration across the disciplines of science and the contributions of people from a range of cultures (ACSHE223)

• Identify questions and problems that can be investigated scientifically and make predictions based on scientific knowledge (ACSIS124)

• Measure and control variables, select equipment appropriate to the task and collect data with accuracy (ACSIS126)

• Summarise data, from students’ own investigations and secondary sources, and use scientific understanding to identify relationships and draw conclusions based on evidence (ACSIS130)

• Construct and use a range of representations, including graphs, keys and models to represent and analyse patterns or relationships in data using digital technologies as appropriate (ACSIS129)

• Use scientific knowledge and findings from investigations to evaluate claims based on evidence (ACSIS132)

• Cells are the basic units of living things; they have specialised structures and functions (ACSSU149)

• Identify questions and problems that can be investigated scientifically and make predictions based on scientific knowledge (ACSIS139)

• Measure and control variables, select equipment appropriate to the task and collect data with accuracy (ACSIS141)

• Summarise data, from students’ own investigations and secondary sources, and use scientific understanding to identify relationships and draw conclusions based on evidence (ACSIS145)

• Reflect on scientific investigations including evaluating the quality of the data collected, and identifying improvements (ACSIS146)

• Use scientific knowledge and findings from investigations to evaluate claims based on evidence (ACSIS234)