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Pill

Theme C - Interaction &  Interdependence

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Direct Hit

Theme A - Unity & Diversity

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Page Facing Up

Theme B - Form & Function

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Keycap Digit One

Theme D - Continuity & Change

🍪 Bite-sized Intro

<ul>
	<li>Plants do some amazing magic - they turn sunlight into a buffet of carbon compounds! 🌞➡️🍔</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>Standard photosynthesis equation? It gives you glucose.</li>
	<li>But plants have a sweet tooth too! They also make sucrose, which is like the UPS for transporting energy around the plant. 🚚</li>
	<li>Fun Fact! 🌟: Think of the Calvin cycle as a mini-factory. It needs to work 6 times just to produce one glucose molecule.</li>
</ul>

Real World Example: Making a Lego tower requires multiple Lego bricks. If glucose is the tower, each Calvin cycle run provides one Lego brick!

<ul>
	<li>Sometimes, plants get overly enthusiastic and produce too much glucose.</li>
	<li>What to do? Turn the extra into starch and store it in their personal pantry - the chloroplasts.</li>
	<li>Night-time Plot Twist 🌜: When it&#39;s dark and no photosynthesis is happening, plants convert that starch back to carbohydrate to be sent out.</li>
</ul>

Real World Example: Ever bought too much candy? You stash it away for later! Plants do the same with starch.

<ul>
	<li>The special ingredient? Triose phosphate from the Calvin cycle.</li>
	<li>With this, chloroplasts can whip up fatty acids! 🍔</li>
	<li>And that&rsquo;s not all - they can also make glycerol, which when combined with fatty acids, gives us triglycerides.</li>
	<li>Ever seen droplets in chloroplasts? Those are the stored oils, the outcome of this cooking fest.</li>
</ul>

Real World Example: It&#39;s like using basic ingredients to cook different dishes in the kitchen. One ingredient, multiple yummy outcomes!

<ul>
	<li>Photosynthesizing cells don&rsquo;t just stop at fatty acids. Using glycerate 3-phosphate, triose phosphate, and a few others, they can produce a variety of carbon compounds.</li>
	<li>But! To diversify the menu, they need extra ingredients like phosphate or sulfate.</li>
</ul>

Real World Example: Making a pizza? The dough&#39;s basic, but toppings like olives, mushrooms, and cheese give it variety. Similarly, plants use mineral nutrients to spice up their carbon compound production!

<ul>
	<li>All 20 amino acids are synthesized in photosynthesizing organisms.</li>
	<li>Nitrogen is crucial here, and plants source it from nitrate or ammonium ions.</li>
	<li>These amino acids form via branching metabolic pathways.</li>
</ul>

Real World Example: Just as a toy store may have various types of toys sourced from different materials, plants use various pathways and ingredients to produce diverse amino acids.

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🌺 Wrap-up: Plants aren&#39;t just sitting pretty in the sun. They&#39;re bustling factories, synthesizing a plethora of carbon compounds, from the sweet sugars to the essential amino acids. It&#39;s a dance of chemistry and nature, and every molecule plays its part!

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Remember, plants are the master chefs of nature, whipping up a multitude of molecules from just sunlight, water, and air! 🌿🌞

Theme C - Interaction & Interdependence

Unlocking Calvin Cycle’s Secrets Synthesize More!

Table of content

Photosynthesis - not just about glucose 🌱