Photosynthesis Fruit Loops
You will be using fruity cereal to model the process of photosynthesis. Follow the procedures to arrange
the cereal pieces in order to model each step of the process.
Procedures:
1. From the container of cereal:
a. Count out 18 of the same color cereal pieces and place them in a pile on the provided paper.
b. Count 12 of another color
c. Count 6 of a third color
2. Use the chart below to record the colors which you will use to represent each type of atom.
Color of Cereal
Number of
cereal pieces
Atom
represented
18
Oxygen
12
Hydrogen
6
Carbon
3. Assemble the raw materials needed for photosynthesis. For a chemical reaction like
photosynthesis, the materials used are called reactants. On your provided paper, group the
appropriate colored pieces as follows:
a. To make a water molecule, H20, cluster two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.
b. To make a carbon dioxide molecule, CO2, cluster one atom of carbon and two atoms of
oxygen.
c. Continue to make these clusters of water and carbon dioxide until all of the cereal pieces
are used up on your paper.
4. Draw a diagram of all of your cereal molecules below. Use colored pencils to make circles to
represent each piece of cereal.
(Diagram 1) The reactants
Water Molecules
Carbon Dioxide Molecules
5. How many molecules (clusters) of water were you able to make? ____
How many molecules of carbon dioxide were you able to make? ____
6. To provide the energy needed to break the bonds which hold the atoms together in the water and carbon
dioxide molecules, carefully shake the paper to mix up the cereal pieces, making sure you keep all the pieces on
the paper.
7. This is a simple simulation of photosynthesis, which is actually a chemical reaction with several steps. When the
molecular bonds are broken, the atoms are rearranged to form the products.
a. Use the same cereal pieces to make a simple sugar molecule called glucose (C6H12O6)- 6 Carbons, 12
Hydrogens, and 6 Oxygens.
b. With the remaining pieces, put together pairs of oxygen atoms to form 02 molecules.
8. Draw a diagram of all of your cereal molecules below. Use colored pencils to make circles to
represent each piece of cereal.
(Diagram 2) The products
Glucose Molecules
Oxygen Molecules
9. How many molecules of glucose were you able to make? ____
How many molecules of oxygen were you able to make? ____
Analysis
1.
a. Write the total number of each kind of atom that is present in the reactants. (Diagram 1)
Oxygen
Hydrogen
Carbon
b. Write the total number of each kind of atom that is present in the products (Diagram 2)
Oxygen
Hydrogen
Carbon
2. Compare the number of atoms in the two charts above.
Does the number of atoms in the reaction of photosynthesis change?
3. When you shook up the carbon dioxide and water clusters to make the glucose and oxygen
molecules, you added energy in the form of motion to break up the pieces.
a. In nature where does the energy come from to break and make the bonds during
photosynthesis.
b. During photosynthesis, light (reactant) is changed in to chemical energy (product). In
which product is the energy stored and for what purpose?
4. Photosynthesis can only take place in certain cells. What do all cells in which photosynthesis takes
place have in common?
Application
If something occurred to destroy all the green plants on earth, what effect do you think this
would have on other organisms? Why?