Photosynthesis Fruit Loops

You will be using fruity cereal to model the process of photosynthesis. Follow the procedures to arrange the cereal pieces in order to model each step of the process.

Procedures:

  1. From the container of cereal:
  2. Count out 18 of the same color cereal pieces and place them in a pile on the provided paper.
  3. Count 12 of another color
  4. Count 6 of a third color
  5. Use the chart below to record the colors which you will use to represent each type of atom.

Color of Cereal / Number of cereal pieces / Atom represented
18 / Oxygen
12 / Hydrogen
6 / Carbon
  1. Assemble the raw materials needed for photosynthesis. For a chemical reaction like photosynthesis, the materials used are called reactants. On your provided paper, group the appropriate colored pieces as follows:
  2. To make a water molecule, H20, cluster two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.
  3. To make a carbon dioxide molecule, CO2, cluster one atom of carbon and two atoms of oxygen.
  4. Continue to make these clusters of water and carbon dioxide until all of the cereal pieces are used up on your paper.
  5. Draw a diagram of all of your cereal molecules below. Use colored pencils to make circles to represent each piece of cereal.

(Diagram 1)The reactants

Water MoleculesCarbon Dioxide Molecules

  1. How many molecules (clusters) of water were you able to make? ____

How many molecules of carbon dioxide were you able to make? ____

  1. To provide the energy needed to break the bonds which hold the atoms together in the water and carbon dioxide molecules, carefully shake the paper to mix up the cereal pieces, making sure you keep all the pieces on the paper.
  1. This is a simple simulation of photosynthesis, which is actually a chemical reaction with several steps. When the molecular bonds are broken, the atoms are rearranged to form the products.
  1. Use the same cereal pieces to make a simple sugar molecule called glucose (C6H12O6)- 6 Carbons, 12 Hydrogens, and 6 Oxygens.
  2. With the remaining pieces, put together pairs of oxygen atoms to form 02 molecules.
  1. Draw a diagram of all of your cereal molecules below. Use colored pencils to make circles to represent each piece of cereal.

(Diagram 2)The products

Glucose MoleculesOxygen Molecules

  1. How many molecules of glucose were you able to make? ____

How many molecules of oxygen were you able to make? ____

Analysis

  1. Write the total number of each kind of atom that is present in the reactants. (Diagram 1)

Oxygen
Hydrogen
Carbon
  1. Write the total number of each kind of atom that is present in the products (Diagram 2)

Oxygen
Hydrogen
Carbon
  1. Compare the number of atoms in the two charts above.

Does the number of atoms in the reaction of photosynthesis change?

  1. When you shook up the carbon dioxide and water clusters to make the glucose and oxygen molecules, you added energy in the form of motion to break up the pieces.
  2. In nature where does the energy come from to break and make the bonds during photosynthesis.
  3. During photosynthesis, light (reactant) is changed in to chemical energy (product). In which product is the energy stored and for what purpose?
  1. Photosynthesis can only take place in certain cells. What do all cells in which photosynthesis takes place have in common?

Application

If something occurred to destroy all the green plants on earth, what effect do you think this would have on other organisms? Why?