Standard #: SC.8.L.18.2


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Describe and investigate how cellular respiration breaks down food to provide energy and releases carbon dioxide.


General Information

Subject Area: Science
Grade: 8
Body of Knowledge: Life Science
Big Idea: Matter and Energy Transformations -

A. Living things all share basic needs for life.

B. Living organisms acquire the energy they need for life processes through various metabolic pathways (photosynthesis and cellular respiration).

C. Matter and energy are recycled through cycles such as the carbon cycle.

Date Adopted or Revised: 02/08
Content Complexity Rating: Level 3: Strategic Thinking & Complex Reasoning - More Information
Date of Last Rating: 05/08
Status: State Board Approved
Assessed: Yes

Related Courses

Course Number1111 Course Title222
2002100: M/J Comprehensive Science 3 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 - 2024, 2024 and beyond (current))
2002110: M/J Comprehensive Science 3, Advanced (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 - 2024, 2024 and beyond (current))
2000010: M/J Life Science (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 - 2024, 2024 and beyond (current))
2000020: M/J Life Science, Advanced (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 - 2024, 2024 and beyond (current))
7820017: Access M/J Comprehensive Science 3 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2018, 2018 - 2023, 2023 and beyond (current))
2002085: M/J Comprehensive Science 2 Accelerated Honors (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 - 2024, 2024 and beyond (current))
7920030: Fundamental Integrated Science 1 (Specifically in versions: 2013 - 2015, 2015 - 2017 (course terminated))
2000025: M/J STEM Life Science (Specifically in versions: 2015 - 2022, 2022 - 2024, 2024 and beyond (current))
2001100: M/J Coastal Science 1 (Specifically in versions: 2022 - 2024, 2024 and beyond (current))
2001105: M/J Coastal Science 2 (Specifically in versions: 2022 - 2024, 2024 and beyond (current))


Related Access Points

Access Point Number Access Point Title
SC.8.L.18.In.2 Recognize that cells break down food to release energy.
SC.8.L.18.Su.2 Recognize that plants and animals get energy from food.
SC.8.L.18.Pa.2 Recognize that food provides energy.


Related Resources

Lesson Plans

Name Description
Cellular Respiration Simulation

In this lesson, students will model cellular respiration during a simulation and by creating a drawing. Students will follow a storyline in which manipulatives are used to represent primary components of cellular respiration. Students will keep a Respiration Record of the steps in cellular respiration as they complete the simulation. Students will then create a drawing model of cellular respiration. Finally, an exit ticket assesses the outcomes of the lesson with respect to the learning goal of being able to explain cellular respiration in terms of the flow of energy and matter.

R-E-S-P-I-R-E, Find Out What It Means To Me!

This lesson will help students understand the concepts of cellular respiration and fermentation with multiple-day activities. Students will be able to compare and contrast the two processes through the use of an interactive lab where students will provide varied amounts of sugar to yeast and record CO2 production.

Kinetic Energy and Carbon Dioxide

Students investigate the increase of their respiration rate of carbon dioxide due to the change of energy from chemical potential energy to kinetic energy. This lesson plan involves students doing physical activities to see the change from potential to kinetic energy.

Cellular Processes: Aerobic and Anaerobic Respiration

This lesson is an introduction lesson that provides students with the basics concepts of aerobic and anaerobic respiration. The lesson centers around a reading passage and lab activity. By the end of the lesson students should be able to complete a concept map to compare and contrast aerobic and anaerobic respiration.

The Link between Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration

This is a lesson that addresses standards and misconceptions associated with Big Idea 18 about Matter and Energy Transformations as related to photosynthesis and cellular respiration. The lesson also embeds a review of other related standards for which the students possesses prior knowledge. The lesson is vertically aligned to review classification of organisms, taxonomy, and build from related introductory activities into learning about cell types, organelles and their structures, and functions, with an emphasis on the chloroplast and the mitochondrion and their role in photosynthesis and cellular respiration. The lesson scaffolds text coding, note taking, charting, answering media dependent questions and culminates in a summative written essay assessment. An alternative short response exam has been included which could be used as an exam or the questions could be used as formative questions throughout the lesson.

BTB-How Does It Work? Students will investigate how BTB works. Under what conditions does a color change occur? What causes the color change? This is a precursor to labs in which the students are investigating respiration or photosynthesis and using BTB as an indicator.
Exercise and Respiration

Students will investigate the process of respiration by investigating the question: How does exercise affect the amount of carbon dioxide exhaled? They will use bromothymol blue to time how fast it changes color before and after exercising. They will be guided into an understanding of the process of cellular respiration.

Original Student Tutorial

Name Description
Energy and Cellular Respiration

Learn how food is broken down to produce energy for cells in the in the form of ATP in this interactive tutorial. 

Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiasts

Name Description
Food, Energy, Fitness, and Good Health

Good food and exercise lead to great health!

Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.

KROS Pacific Ocean Kayak Journey: Calories, Exercise, and Metabolism Rates

How much food do you need to cross the Pacific in a kayak? Get a calculator and a bag of almonds before you watch this.

Related Resources:
KROS Pacific Ocean Kayak Journey: GPS Data Set[.XLSX]
KROS Pacific Ocean Kayak Journey: Path Visualization for Google Earth[.KML]

Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.

KROS Pacific Ocean Kayak Journey: Energy and Nutrition

Calorie-dense foods can power the human body across the ocean? Feel the burn.

Related Resources:
KROS Pacific Ocean Kayak Journey: GPS Data Set[.XLSX]
KROS Pacific Ocean Kayak Journey: Path Visualization for Google Earth[.KML]

Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.

Text Resource

Name Description
Getting the Dirt on Carbon

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Carbon, an essential part of life on Earth, exists in a never-ending cycle. It is continually moving back and forth between living and non-living factors, as well as from organism to organism. Soil, with its ability to "lock up" carbon, plays a major role in the carbon cycle. Atmospheric CO2 levels are linked to climate change, so ways of keeping carbon locked in soil are of great interest to scientists.

Unit/Lesson Sequence

Name Description
Chemical Change Investigations | Inquiry in Action In this series of 10 investigations, students gain experience with the evidence of chemical change - production of a gas, change in temperature, color change, and formation of a precipitate. Students begin by observing that similar-looking powders can be differentiated by the way they react chemically with certain test liquids. Students then use their chemical tests and observations to identify an unknown powder and, in a follow-up activity, to identify the active ingredients in baking powder. Students continue to explore chemical change by using a thermometer to observe that temperature either increases or decreases during chemical reactions. Then they control these reactions by adjusting the amount of reactants. In another set of activities, students use the color changes of red cabbage indicator to classify substances as acids or bases, neutralize solutions, and compare the relative acidity of two different solutions. Students conclude the investigation by comparing a precipitate to one of the reactants that formed it. Students see that a new substance was created during the chemical reaction. Information and questions about photosynthesis and cellular respiration are included as examples of chemical changes on pages 316-318 of this resource.

Video/Audio/Animation

Name Description
Science Crossword Puzzles A collection of crossword puzzles that test the knowledge of students about some of the terms, processes, and classifications covered in science topics

Student Resources

Original Student Tutorial

Name Description
Energy and Cellular Respiration:

Learn how food is broken down to produce energy for cells in the in the form of ATP in this interactive tutorial. 

Video/Audio/Animation

Name Description
Science Crossword Puzzles: A collection of crossword puzzles that test the knowledge of students about some of the terms, processes, and classifications covered in science topics


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