AP Biology Discussion Notes
Wednesday 12/10/2014
Goals for the Day
1. Be smarter then a Harvard Graduate!
2. Be able to say how the Calvin cycle
functions and how plants differ in use
of this process.
3. Be able to say where most of the
mass of a plant comes from.
Question of the Day 12/10
Where does our mass come
from?
*Think
how would I increase or
decrease my mass?
How does a plant get its food?
• Write the summary reaction for
photosynthesis?
• What does a plant take in?
Where does the mass of a plant
come from?
Largest Tree by Volume: General
Sherman
Height above Base
Circumference at Ground
Maximum Diameter at Base
Diameter of Largest Branch
Estimated Weight
Age
Feet
Meters
274.9
102.6
36.5
83.8
31.1
11.1
6.8
2.1
12 million
pounds
2000+ years old
Where did that 12 million pounds
come from?
Where does the Mass of a plant
come from?
• Where does a pumpkin plant get the mass
to grow a 5 pound pumpkin?
• Where does a tree get the material to grow
a body of 12 million pounds?
Our thoughts…….
Is the mass from SOIL?
Van Helmont
5 year
Experiment 1643
Write a prediction about what
would happen to the mass of
soil, if a plants mass came
from the soil.
Van Helmont
5 year
Experiment 1643
So if the mass comes from the
soil, then the mass of the soil
should decrease in proportion
to the mass of a plant.
Van Helmont
5 year
Experiment 1643
• Does a
plant’s
mass come
from the
soil?
If not from the Soil then from
what?
Is the mass from water?
• In what Atom is most of the Mass of Water
(H2O) contained?
When is that H2O used in photosynthesis?
Figure 10.14-5
4
Primary
acceptor
2
H
+
1/ O
2
2
H2O
e
2
Primary
acceptor
e
Pq
7
Fd
e 
e
Cytochrome
complex
8
NADP
reductase
3
Pc
e
e
P700
5
P680
Light
1 Light
6
ATP
Pigment
molecules
Photosystem II
(PS II)
Photosystem I
(PS I)
NADP
+ H
NADPH
Light Reactions
• Light + H2O

NADPH + ATP + O2
• Water supplies Electrons and Hydrogen
ions that will power chemiosmosis and
Phosyphorylation of ADP to ATP.
Figure 10.5
Reactants:
Products:
6 CO2
C6H12O6
12 H2O
6 H2O
6 O2
Harvard Graduates
Let’s take a look at those
statements…..
• “From what I know about organic
chemistry…”
Does Air Have Mass?
YES!
Does Air Have Mass?
• Design an experiment that could prove to
someone that air has mass.
– (They would probably want some evidence)
Let’s take a look at those
statements…..
• “I would find that hard to believe because
the same amount of air wouldn’t weight as
much unless it was highly compressed…”
Where does the Mass of a plant
come from?
• Where does a pumpkin plant get the mass
to grow a 7 pound pumpkin?
• Where does a tree get the material to grow
a body of 12 million pounds?
• Answer: Carbon Dioxide – CO2
Figure 10.5
Reactants:
Products:
6 CO2
C6H12O6
12 H2O
6 H2O
6 O2
Where does the mass of any
organism come from?
The LARGEST…..
• Find an organism that is the largest,
biggest, heaviest etc. of its kind. Edit a
slide in the presentation linked online. DO
NOT write over other people’s slides!!!
• Name
– length/height
– Mass
– Interesting fact
– Where their mass comes from
Reading and Notes
• 10.3 – required
»DUE tomorrow – (Thurs.)
• 10.4 – end of chapter – extra credit
»Due FRIDAY
• Photosynthesis Video Guide
» Due Monday
Species of the day 12/10
• Bristlecone Pine- Pinus longaeva
Species of the day 12/10
• Bristlecone Pine- Pinus longaeva
Species of the day 12/10
• Bristlecone Pine- Pinus longaeva
Where does the most of the mass used
to build this tree actually come from?