Digital Unit Plan

Unit Title: Photosynthesis Process and Regulation

Name: Tran, Sarena

Content Area: Biology

Grade Level: 9/10

CA Content Standard(s)/Common Core Standard(s):

NGSS: HS-LS1-5 Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy.
CA CCSS ELA: 3. Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks, attending to special
cases or exceptions defined in the text. (Reading)
4. Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades
9-10 texts and topics. (Reading)
9. Compare and contrast findings presented in a text to those from other sources (including their own experiments), noting when the findings support or contradict previous
explanations or accounts. (Reading)
2. Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/experiments, or technical processes. (Writing)
6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technologys capacity to link to other
information and to display information flexibly and dynamically. (Writing)
Big Ideas:
1. Changes of energy and matter in a system can be described in terms of energy and matter flows into, out of, and within that system.
2. Use a model based on evidence to illustrate the relationships between systems or between components of a system.
3. The process of photosynthesis converts light energy to stored chemical energy by converting carbon dioxide plus water into sugars plus released oxygen. (LS1.C)
4. 6CO2 + 6H2O C6H12O6 + 6O2, carbon dioxide + water glucose + oxygen
5. Photosynthesis depends on environmental conditions.
Unit Goals and Objectives:
1. When asked about how energy is conserved through photosynthesis, students will be able to construct a diagram that demonstrates the conversion of energy from light to
chemical (glucose).
2. Students should be able to explain how light intensity affects photosynthesis through textual and experimental evidence (lab, textbook, other primary sources).
3. Students should be able to make predictions about the photosynthetic rate from varying other environmental conditions (temperature, availability of water, etc.).
Unit Summary:
As we may already know, according to First Law of Thermodynamics, energy can neither be created nor destroyed. However, there are different ways in which energy can be
generated in biological systems for use by the many organisms within the system. One way in which energy can be converted to practical use is through cellular respiration.
All organisms need to utilize cellular respiration to generate usable energy.
Another way in which energy can be converted to practical use in our ecosystem is by photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a process carried out by most plants and some
bacteria that allows them to take in energy in the form of sunlight and convert it to a form of chemical energy in which all living organisms can use. In essence, the products
of photosynthesis provide the materials needed for cellular respiration, likely making photosynthesis an even more important biological process for energy conversion.
In this unit, students will learn about what is required by plants to carry out photosynthesis and what type of products result from photosynthesis. Students will also begin
to explore and formulate ideas about how rates of photosynthesis can vary depending on the supply and demand of necessary resources.

Assessment Plan:
Entry-Level:
1. Survey
Students will complete a short 5-question survey that
assesses their understanding of photosynthesis
primarily from their 7th grade life-sciences class. It
should give both students and the teacher an idea of
where students are with their knowledge of the topic.

Formative:
1. Graphic Organizer
Students will complete a 1-page visual graphic
organizer that details the various steps of
photosynthesis from the taking in of sunlight to the
formation of sugars. This will help students solidify the
complex process through visual representation.
2. Quiz
Students will take a short 11-question quiz with
multiple choice and short response questions that
assesses their understanding of the topics covered in
the lecture. The lecture focuses on the topic of the
photosynthetic process.
(Note: To take the online quiz, please make a student
account on Quizstar and register for the class by
searching for my class, "Tran_Intro to Bio".)
3. Discussion
Students will participate in reading a scientific article
titled Stomatal Conductance and Photosynthesis.
Students will then collaborate in a small-group
discussion of the primary journal article guided by a set
of teacher-generated discussion questions in the format
of a graphic organizer. The discussion will assess
student strengths and weaknesses in interacting with
primary sources.
4. Pre-lab Webercise
Students will prepare for the unit lab by doing this prelab webercise to review unit topics which were covered
earlier in the lesson (process) and to explore new unit
topics important for carrying out the lab effectively
(regulation).

Summative:
1. Lab Write-up
Students will construct a lab report that summarizes
the unit topics covered in the actual experiment and
assists students in reflecting on how to carry out the
scientific method in good form. Students will also form
interpretations from results and analyze the
implications of their experimental data. The lab writeup will be graded based upon this specific rubric.
2. Research Paper
Students will synthesize a 2-3 page research paper that
utilizes primary and secondary resources. This essay
should demonstrate student understanding of how a
particular environmental factor can affect the rate of
photosynthesis.

Lesson 1
Student Learning Objective:
When asked about how
energy is conserved through
photosynthesis, students will
be able to construct a
diagram that demonstrates
the conversion of energy
from light to chemical
(glucose).

Acceptable Evidence:
Students can construct the
reaction equation for
photosynthesis and identify
the reactants and products by
their molecular formulas,
such that students can readily
recognize: 6CO2 + 6H2O
C6H12O6 + 6O2, carbon dioxide
+ water glucose + oxygen.

Instructional Strategies:
Communication
Collection
Collaboration
Presentation
Organization
Interaction

Lesson Activities:
1. Students will listen to a recorded teacher lecture that introduces the topic of
photosynthesis and the process of photosynthesis.
2. While actively listening and watching the teacher lecture, students will
complete a set of guided notes which provide questions that align with the
lecture. The guided notes should help students better grasp the lecture.
3. Students will also complete a graphic organizer visually diagramming the
individual steps of photosynthesis.

Lesson 2
Student Learning Objective:
Students should be able to
explain how light intensity
affects photosynthesis
through textual and
experimental evidence (lab,
textbook, other primary
sources).

Acceptable Evidence:
Students accurately explain
that the increase in light
intensity increases
photosynthetic rate when the
only limiting factor is the
availability of light.

Instructional Strategies:
Communication
Collection
Collaboration
Presentation
Organization
Interaction

Lesson Activities:
1. Prior to the lesson, students will complete a pre-lab assignment in which they
review the process of photosynthesis and a particular environmental variant that
effects it: light intensity. This pre-lab assignment is a webercise that utilizes
different digital interactives for students to explore.
2. On the day of the lesson, students will complete the photosynthesis lab in
groups in which they expose a test tube with a sprig of Elodea to varying light
intensities and record the amount of water displaced over a set amount of time.
Students will practice the scientific method while at the same time exploring the
key question of how do environmental factors affect rate of photosynthesis (Unit
Resources #3).
3. A few days following the lesson, students will complete and submit individual
lab reports in which they introduce the topic, document materials and procedures,
record the results, analyze their data, and draw conclusions.

Lesson 3
Student Learning Objective:
Students should be able to
make predictions about the
results from varying other
environmental conditions
(temperature, availability of
water, etc.).

Acceptable Evidence:
Students predict the results of
the experiment if we were to
vary temperature and
availability of water, and they
can fully support their
predictions with evidence
from primary/secondary
literature. Note: Predictions do
not have to be correct as long
as students demonstrate
proper evidence for their
hypotheses.

Instructional Strategies:
Communication
Collection
Collaboration
Presentation
Organization
Interaction

Lesson Activities:
1. Students will be given a primary review article about how the opening of
stomata affect the rate of photosynthesis. The primary article will cover different
environmental factors and how they may affect stomatal opening which would
also affect the rate of photosynthesis. Guided by a graphic organizer, they will be
asked to read specific portions of it individually, writing down notes and
highlighting important details while reading (Unit Resources #2).
2. Students will then join together in small group discussions (3-4 students)
where they will collaborate on the graphic organizer. Students will have to draw
support both from their textbooks (Unit Resources #1) and the primary review
article (Unit Resources #2). Each student will submit one set of answers on the
day following the lesson.
3. Students will then continue to explore the environmental variants that affect
the rate of photosynthesis in a short 2-3 page research paper. Students will utilize
some other pieces of literature to construct their essay (both primary and
secondary).

Unit Resources:
1. Biology by Miller and Levine, Ch8. Photosynthesis
2. Farquhar, G.D., Sharkey, T.D. Stomatal Conductance and Photosynethesis. 1982. Ann. Rev. 33, 317-345.
3. Photosynthesis Lab Hoyle, Robert (Claremont High School)
4. Photosynthesis Digital Interactive
5. Digital Unit
6. Quizstar
7. Lab Write-up Guidelines
8. Lab Write-up Rubric

9. Teacher Lecture Guided Notes

10. Teacher Lecture
11. Webercise Hand-out
12. Graphic Organizer Template
13. Graphic Organizer Sample
14. Graphic Organizer Rubric
15. Photosynthesis, an overview
16. Illuminating photosynthesis
17. Photosynthesis game
18. Light intensity simulation
19. Unit Assessment Map

Useful Websites:
**Refer to Items #3, 4 of Unit Resources in addition to the following
1. An overview of the light reaction
2. Photophosphorylation of the light reaction
3. An overview of the dark reaction
4. Plant pigment experiment
5. Limiting factors of photosynthesis
6. Factors affecting photosynthetic rate