School Workshop: Photosynthesis – life support (years 8 to 10)

Workshop overview

What happens in the workshop

Your students receive a distress signal from a stranded astronaut (below) over 50 million km away on Mars. Working as Mars Mission Trouble Shooters your students have one task – to keep the astronaut alive. Life support systems on Mars are down and the majority of the base is in ruins with the exception of an Eden style biome containing 20 banana plants and an escape shuttle over 10km away from the main base. Should the astronaut remain in the biome with the banana plants or make a run for the shuttle? Would the plants provide enough oxygen? Would the astronaut even make it to the shuttle?

The students go on a mission into Eden’s Outdoor Garden and Rainforest Biome to collect data about banana plants, photosynthesis, respiration, energy use, and the calorie content of foods.

Back in the classroom the students use the data they have collected, together with secondary data, to make the necessary calculations and advise the stranded astronaut on the best course of action.

It was a perfect opportunity for our students to learn outside the classroom.

Visiting teacher

Practical information

How does this workshop support the curriculum?

This workshop enables students to:

Review and recall the chemical equations for photosynthesis and respiration* and where the processes take place.
Explain how the processes are connected through the living world and their significance.
Use a variety of equipment to collect scientific data.
Determine and complete the correct calculations required to solve scientific challenges.
Justify decision-making using their own data collection, calculations and ideas about science.

We've designed the workshop to help teachers cover the following subject areas:

KS3 Science

Students should be taught about the reactants in, and products of, photosynthesis, and a word summary for photosynthesis, the dependence of almost all life on Earth on the ability of photosynthetic organisms, energy requirements in a healthy diet, energy values of different foods, aerobic respiration in living organisms and a word summary for aerobic respiration.
Students should be taught about speed and the quantitative relationship between average speed, distance and time. Students should be taught to use appropriate techniques, apparatus, and materials during fieldwork, make and record observations and measurements using a range of methods, understand and use SI units and use and derive simple equations and carry out appropriate calculations.

KS4 Science

Students should be taught about photosynthesis as the key process for food production and therefore biomass for life, the process of photosynthesis, factors affecting the rate of photosynthesis, the importance and process of aerobic respiration and that organic compounds are used as fuels in cellular respiration.
Students should be taught about making and recording observations and measurements using a range of apparatus and methods, interpreting observations and other data, making inferences and drawing conclusions, presenting reasoned explanations, recognising the importance of scientific quantities and understanding how they are determined, using SI units and interconverting units.

*This workshop reviews the processes of photosynthesis and respiration set within the context of an engaging, problem-solving narrative that aims to give them the bigger picture about the importance of these life processes. It does not provide an introduction to photosynthesis or respiration and therefore relies upon the fact that students participating should already have covered the topics in class.

Where does it take place?

How much does it cost?

Can teachers come along too?

What safety measures are in place?

Accredited workshops at Eden

This workshop is accredited under the British Science Association’s CREST Awards scheme and goes towards a Discovery Award.

In order to gain the award it is also necessary for the students to have completed some of the suggested pre and post visit activities provided upon booking.