Carbon+Girls

Cellular Respiration is the process by which cells break down simple food molecules such as glucose to release the energy they contain.

__ Carbon Girl Breakdown __ Copy the numbered items in one column. Write a small part of the story that corresponds to the numbered items in the other column. (Match a little bit of the story to each numbered item.)

1. Carbohydrates like glucose contain carbon. 2. Carbohydrates store or contain energy that cells use. 3. When glucose enters a cell, two energy containing molecules are produced by the start of cellular respiration. 4. Molecules from glucose and oxygen are used in the mitochondria. 5. The mitochondria uses oxygen to get energy from the glucose that enters a cell. 6. To release energy (34 ATP) originally in glucose, the carbon is bonded to oxygen in the mitochondria. 7. Carbon dioxide is produced when the carbon in carbohydrates is bonded to oxygen. 8. Water is produced when the hydrogen in carbohydrates reacts with oxygen. 9. Cellular respiration uses the energy in carbohydrates to make cellular energy called ATP. 10. Cells use the energy in ATP to function and survive.

__The Energetic Carbon Girls Go Out__: The carbon six girls were so tight, they stuck together like glucose. The carbon girls came from the carbohydrates in Red Hot Cheetos. They were not the regular complex carbohydrates that plants and animals use to store energy. The carbon girls refined themselves so much they were nearly fake. One day the carbon girls were bored with just defusing around the circulatory system. They entered a cell’s cytoplasm hoping to have a fun time. Immediately they lost a little bit of energy, but they didn’t notice because they spotted some guys. The cell turned this little bit of energy into ATP to keep going. 12 guys were all puffed up like they were made out of oxygen. They were in a mitochondria like it was a table in a nook of a restaurant. The O-guys welcomed the carbon girls into their enclave and they began to chat. Little did the carbon girls know that the chemistry of their gathering was a lie to rob them of their energy and to end their very existence. The cell through the workings of the mitochondria was breaking each girl down and bonding part of them to two different O-guys. The carbon girls developed split personalities even though they thought they were having bubbly CO2 fun. By the end of the day, the girls and guys were made into waste products of the cell; nothing more than carbon dioxide and water. The cell had enough energy to keep going to the next day when more carbohydrates and oxygen would diffuse its’ way. The flow of energy from carbohydrates to ATP would continue as long as cellular respiration parties on. All this was promoted as fun by the mass media of the DNA for only the survival of only the cell.

(From this story, outline the process of Cellular Respiration.)