This fully-resourced lesson describes the conversion of Calvin cycle intermediates to carbohydrates, lipids and amino acids. The engaging and detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been primarily designed to cover point (12) of topic 13.1 of the CIE A-level Biology specification (for assessment in 2025 - 2027) concerning the uses of GP and TP but as the lesson makes continual references to biological molecules, it can act as a revision tool for a lot of the content of topic 2.
The previous lesson described the three stages of the Calvin cycle and this lesson builds on that understanding to demonstrate how the intermediates of the cycle, GP and TP, are used. The start of the lesson challenges the students to identify two errors in a diagram of the cycle so that they can recall that most of the TP molecules are used in the regeneration of ribulose bisphosphate. A quiz version of Pointless runs throughout the lesson and this is used to challenge the students to recall a biological molecule from its description. Once each molecule has been revealed, time is taken to go through the details of the formation and synthesis of this molecule from TP or from GP in the case of fatty and amino acids. The following molecules are considered in detail during this lesson:
- glucose (and fructose and galactose)
- sucrose
- starch and cellulose
- glycerol and fatty acids
- amino acids
- nucleic acids
A range of activities are used to challenge their prior knowledge of these molecules and mark schemes are always displayed for the exam-style questions to allow the students to assess their understanding.
As detailed above, this lesson has been specifically written to tie in with the earlier lessons in this topic on the structure of the chloroplast, the light-dependent stage of photosynthesis and the Calvin cycle.
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Topic 13: Photosynthesis (CIE A-level Biology)
This bundle contains 7 fully-resourced lessons which are highly detailed and will engage and motivate the students whilst covering the content of topic 13 of the CIE A-level Biology specification (for assessment in 2025 - 27). The following specification points are covered: Topic 13.1: points 1 - 12 Topic 13.2: points 1 & 2 The lesson PowerPoints and accompanying resources contain a wide range of tasks which include exam-style questions, whole class discussion periods and quiz competitions which are designed to introduce key terms and values in a memorable way. If you would like to get an idea of the quality of these lessons, then download the Calvin cycle intermediates lesson as this has been shared for free.
Topics 12 & 13: Respiration and photosynthesis (CIE A-level Biology)
Respiration and photosynthesis are two of the most commonly-assessed topics in the terminal A-level exams but are often poorly understood by students. These 16lessons have been intricately planned to contain a wide range of activities that will engage and motivate the students whilst covering the key detail to try to deepen their understanding and includes exam-style questions so they are fully prepared for these assessments. The following specification points in topics 12 and 13 of the CIE A-level Biology course are covered by these lessons: * The need for energy in living organisms * The features of ATP * The synthesis of ATP by substrate-level phosphorylation in glycolysis and the Krebs cycle * The roles of the coenzymes in respiration * The synthesis of ATP through the electron transport chain in the mitochondria and chloroplasts * The relative energy values of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins as respiratory substrates * Determining the respiratory quotient from equations for respiration * The four stages of aerobic respiration * An outline of glycolysis * When oxygen is available, pyruvate is converted into acetyl CoA in the link reaction * The steps of the Krebs cycle * Oxidative phosphorylation * The relationship between the structure and function of the mitochondrion * Distinguish between aerobic and anaerobic respiration in mammalian tissue and in yeast cells * Anaerobic respiration generates a small yield of ATP and builds up an oxygen debt * The products of the light-dependent stage are used in the Calvin cycle * The structure of a chloroplast and the sites of the light-dependent and light-independent stages of photosynthesis * The role of the chloroplast pigments * Absorption and action spectra * Using chromatography to separate the chloroplast pigments * The light-dependent stage of photosynthesis * The three stages of the Calvin cycle * The conversion of Calvin cycle intermediates to carbohydrates, lipids and amino acids * Explain the term limiting factor in relation to photosynthesis * Explain the effects of changes in light intensity, carbon dioxide concentration and temperature on the rate of photosynthesis * Explain how an understanding of limiting factors is used to increase crop yields in protected environments Due to the detail of these lessons, it is estimated that it will take up to 2 months of allocated A-level teaching time to cover the detail included in the slides of these lessons If you would like to sample the quality of the lessons, download the roles of the coenzymes, the Krebs cycle and the products of the Calvin cycle lessons as these have been shared for free
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