Bagging Rays; Turning Light Energy into Chemical Fuel

Energy and Living ThingsAlmost all the energy in living systems comes from the ______.

In the space below, draw a food chain that leads back to the Sun for each item you have eaten today.

_________ are organisms, like us, that must eat food to get energy. Autotrophs are organisms, like green plants that use energy from the Sun to produce their own ________. That is why autotrophs are also called “producers.” Producers include photosynthetic plants like algae, but also other organisms like _______.

PhotosynthesisPhotosynthesis is a _________________ ______________ of a green plant, which uses sunlight to produce food from carbon dioxide and water. The chemical equation for the overall process is:

6___ + 6___ -> _______ + 6__

In the box below, draw a plant, algae or bacteria. Then draw arrows showing the flow of reactants and products in and out of the box. What you have drawn is a model of the metabolic process of photosynthesis. We use this “black box” type of model when the important features of the model are not what is in side the box. Rather, the important features are what go in and out of the box.

Unit 8 Guided Notes

Bagging Rays; Turning Light Energy into Chemical Fuel

Use your phone or Biology textbook to look up the words: nutrient and fertilizer.

What is the relationship between “plant nutrients” and “fertilizer”?

Exactly what is in fertilizer?

Plants need more that just sunlight and carbon dioxide. Plants also need at least these primary nutrients: ______________ (N) , ______________(P), and __________________(K).

_______________________ is the technique of growing plants without soil. Instead of soil, the plant receives nutrients in solution. List at least three ways to measure plant growth.

1. _______________________________________________

2. _______________________________________________

3. _______________________________________________

BioFuel EssayBioFuel is an energy alternative to ___________ fuel. The advantage of biofuel is that it Is __________. The disadvantage of biofuel is that the only sources currently being commercially produced are also a source of ____________. If other sources of biofuel can be developed then we can decrease our dependence on fossil fuels and decrease the amount of ______ we put in the atmosphere.

Sources of Biofuel include cellulose, algae, and food crops like corn. Cellulose is abundant and found naturally occurring in plants like ___________. _______ grows so fast that it also could be considered abundant. _______ is a food crop that does not grow fast but it is grown consistently on a large scale. The best source of biofuel will be in in abundant supply.

Biofuel has its disadvantages. While biofuel sources like corn or sugar cane have been used to make ________, their use as a biofuel reduces the food supply. Also, ethanol can corrode an engine that is not specifically designed as a _______ engine. It so expensive to produce biofuel from ____________ that there are not yet any commercial producers. The best source of biofuel will be from a non-food source and will cost less to produce than fossil fuel.

The most sustainable source of energy is __________ energy. Biofuels satisfy that requirement. As soon as it is economically feasible to produce biofuel from abundant non-food sources, we will all benefit from cleaner and less expensive energy.

Word bank: cellulose, ethanol, renewable, fossil, switchgrass, carbon, Algae, food, FlexFuel, corn.

Unit 8 Guided Notes