TM

1 Why was the question asked?

ASSET Respiration Class 8 Children learn about the basic life processes from grade 3. But they often see certain processes as specific to
certain organisms, like photosynthesis as specific to plants or respiration as specific to animals. This
question was asked to check if students really understood the difference between the two processes of
photosynthesis and respiration. This was tested across classes 5 to 9, to see if there is any difference in
performance.
Question
All living organisms need to respire to stay alive.
Which of the following are examples of respiration?
D. 21.9%

C. 12.7%
D. 9.5%A. 19.4%

B. 3.9%
2 What did students answer?
Only about 19% of class 8 students selected the correct answer (A). We asked this question to students of
No. of students
classes 5 to 9. The most surprising fact is that the performance is almost the same across the classes. In fact, the
1. Humans use oxygen and release carbon dioxide. 8440 A. 56.6% percentage of students selecting the most common answer (C) increases with the class.
2. Plants use carbon dioxide and release oxygen. B. 14.8% It clearly indicates that fundamental processes like respiration and photosynthesis are not clearly understood
3. Burning dry leaves uses oxygen and releases carbon dioxide. by children.
C. 54.6%
Possible reason for choosing B: Very few students have selected B probably because most of them are convinced that
at least 1 is an example of respiration.
Options Only 19.4% answered correctly
Possible reason for choosing C: They are confused between respiration and photosynthesis and consider any gas exchange
A only 1 B only 2 Right Answer process taking place in plants as respiration.
Most Common Wrong Answer
Possible reason for choosing D: They might be considering respiration as a process in which energy is released and so consider even
C only 1 and 2 D 1, 2, and 3 combustion as an example of respiration.

3 Learnings Day Night

Respiration At the first level students think that the process whereby plants use carbon dioxide and release oxygen can also be referred to as respiration.
There seems to be a confusion between the two concepts of Photosynthesis and Respiration. O2 CO2
This might be a nomenclature issue that needs to be checked. At the second level they think that at one time, plants can use only one gas i.e. when the plants are using say carbon dioxide they cannot simultaneously use oxygen.
night Since the Sun is required to carry out
Some students who give the correct answer (A) show an incorrect understanding when probed. According to them plants photosynthesise during the day and respire during the night.
photosynthesis and there is no Sun during the night, they switch on to respiration as it is also important for them to produce energy.
But whether they know that respiration is required for producing energy or not, the fact that both, respiration and photosynthesis, occur simultaneously in plants is just not clear. They tend to think that only one of the processes can
occur at a time (only one gas can enter at a time) and so in the morning plants photosynthesise and at night they respire. This indicates an even more serious misconception- that it is not necessary for organisms to
respire continuously. This misconception has been tested through other questions, and will be discussed in future teacher sheets.
Students think that
There are many students who seem to misunderstand the cause-effect relationship in this case. case They say that carbon dioxide given out by animals is used by plants. The plants in turn give out oxygen which is used by animals. And - only one of the processes occurs at a time OR
hence a balance of the two gases is maintained. If plants also start respiring, there will be no oxygen left out for animals and animals will die. This logic mistakenly assumes that plants give out oxygen during the day so that animals - only one gas can enter at a time
can breathe in oxygen.

4 How do we handle this?

! Students need to understand that both these processes can occur simultaneously.
! Let them understand the process of respiration without any organism's context. So, just teach the process independent of animals or plants. Just make them clear about why the process is important and what happens in the process. Then lead them to which all organisms will need to respire. And
from there lead them to the time at which respiration occurs.
! Many students have a misconception that plants or animals take in only one gas, carbon dioxide or oxygen at a time. It is important to correct this and teach that it's the mixture of gases that is taken in out of which the important gas is utilized (by filtering through lungs in case of animals and
diffusion in case of plants).
! Another aspect that needs to be emphasized is that all parts of the plant respire leaves, roots, stem and flowers too!! The parts above the soil get their oxygen directly from the air through pores. The pores in the leaves are called stomata (singular: stoma). The pores in the branches of trees are called lenticels.
Useful resources:
Websites: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/biology/greenplantsasorganisms/0photosynthesisrev6.shtml http://biology.arizona.edu/sciconn/lessons2/Roxane/photo.htm
A very good link that shows both the processes occurring simultaneously in plants during the day. This page has a set of experiments to help children explore different aspects related to respiration and photosynthesis in plants and understand them in greater detail. Educational
INITIATIVES