Photosynthesis and respiration are the chemical reactions that enable solar energy to fuel life on this planet. Photosynthesis is also where almost all living substances start their life.
• The energy pathway from solar to respiration underpins life on earth • It helps students understand the origin of fossil fuels and our climate concerns • It is made far too complex and complicated when part of the biology curriculum • I argue that they need a place in the chemistry and physics curriculum not only in biology.
I have written and produced many resources to help students understand the associated physics (energy) and chemistry, which address misconceptions and simplify what are very complex biochemical pathways:
• FuseSchool short video which has had half a million views https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XIyweZg6Sw • SSR articles https://www.ase.org.uk/resources/school-science-review/issue-382/model-respiration-and-photosynthesis-in-which-oxygen-plays https://www.ase.org.uk/resources/school-science-review/issue-349/fuel-and-food-are-not-made-energy-constructive-view
• Science issues resource. Www.scienceissues.org.uk The talk will start with some questions teachers can use on their students to identify misconceptions. Participants will discuss their ideas in pairs (“Tell Each Other”)
I will show the FuseSchool Video and my simple “stretched oxides” photosynthesis model together with this very simple global diagram to show cross-curricular importance. [Can't attach pictue - it shows the degradation ove energy from sunlight to waste heat driving the cycling of matter: fuel+oxygen = carbon dioxide + water
We then debate how we can give these reactions more importance in future science curricula, linking it all with the need to help students understand the science behind climate change (specifically the origin of the extra carbon dioxide we are putting into the atmosphere).
