Cellular Respiration Digital Diagram

Last year I blogged about the cellular respiration diagram that I had saved from college and use in class with my students here. After a Google training last year, I decided that I would attempt to use Google Drawings to make the respiration diagram. I spent more time than I care to admit, but got the diagram put together here and out to my students.

We worked it the same as last year. They worked on labeling the diagram first and we talked through it and even acted out oxidative phosphorylation. Then they completed their guided reading questions. Students comment each time we do it that way, how much more they understand the reading questions for this chapter.

Although it may look like there are lots of details for glycolysis and the Kreb’s cycle—for those we focus on what goes in and what comes out. We spend plenty of time discussing the significance of NAD and FAD “boats”. This year they coined NADH and FADH2 the party boats since they are full of high energy electrons.

We wrapped up our discussions today with the Mystery of 7 Deaths case study that you can find here. I loved the reasoning I was hearing!

A Big Picture of Cellular Respiration

When we start learning cellular respiration in AP Biology, I pull out my "relic" from college. It's a yellowed piece of 11" by 17" paper dated 9/25/95.  On it is a photocopied, hand-drawn diagram of the process of cellular respiration. Dr. John Azevedo drew the diagram and gave everyone in his Microbiology class a copy.  I wrote notes all over it, and by the end of that class, understood cellular respiration better than I ever had.

Now, every year I teach AP Bio, each of my students gets a photocopied, hand-drawn 11" by 17" diagram.  My hope is that they always have the big picture of cellular respiration in mind as we work through what is happening.  To make it even more concrete, I have punched out several different colored shapes for students to use as molecules going through the process.

I have a whole set of questions that students work through to help understand the diagram better. This is the slide that I put up for them to use to work through the diagram, followed by a set of questions to gauge their understanding of the process.