Question
Corn plants produce their own food through a chemical process.
Corn is one of the most important crops grown in the United States. Corn, which is mostly starch, is used as a food source for humans and other animals.
Humans first developed corn as a food crop over 8000 years ago. These early farmers produced corn by selectively breeding a wild grass called teosinte. The kernels of teosinte have a hard coating that makes them difficult for humans to eat. A key step in developing corn as a food crop was selecting individual plants that produced kernels without this coating so that they could more easily be used as a food source. The illustrations show the kernels on an ear of corn and the kernels on an ear of teosinte.
The illustration on the left reads, corn, the illustration on the right reads, teosinte
Corn and teosinte share the scientific name Zea mays. A single gene with two alleles codes for kernel coating (H) or no kernel coating (h) in Zea mays. To determine the inheritance pattern of this gene, scientists crossed teosinte that is true-breeding (homozygous) for kernel coating and domestic corn that is true-breeding for no kernel coating to produce offspring with partially formed kernel coatings. The three phenotypes and their genotypes are shown in the table.
Phenotype Genotype
kernel coating HH
no kernel coating hh
partially formed kernel coating Hh
Part A
Drag and drop a molecule into each box in the equation to show the chemical reaction corn plants use to make food. Each chemical symbol may be used once or not at all.
(1 point)
Drop target 1
Drop target 2
Drop target 3
Drop target 4
Question 2
Part B
Identify the source that provides energy for the chemical reaction in Part A to occur.
(1 point)
Question 3
Part C
Describe how human cells use the products from the chemical reaction in Part A. Be sure to include the process that occurs at the cellular level.
(2 points)
0 / 10000 Word Limit
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Corn is one of the most important crops grown in the United States. Corn, which is mostly starch, is used as a food source for humans and other animals.
Humans first developed corn as a food crop over 8000 years ago. These early farmers produced corn by selectively breeding a wild grass called teosinte. The kernels of teosinte have a hard coating that makes them difficult for humans to eat. A key step in developing corn as a food crop was selecting individual plants that produced kernels without this coating so that they could more easily be used as a food source. The illustrations show the kernels on an ear of corn and the kernels on an ear of teosinte.
The illustration on the left reads, corn, the illustration on the right reads, teosinte
Corn and teosinte share the scientific name Zea mays. A single gene with two alleles codes for kernel coating (H) or no kernel coating (h) in Zea mays. To determine the inheritance pattern of this gene, scientists crossed teosinte that is true-breeding (homozygous) for kernel coating and domestic corn that is true-breeding for no kernel coating to produce offspring with partially formed kernel coatings. The three phenotypes and their genotypes are shown in the table.
Phenotype Genotype
kernel coating HH
no kernel coating hh
partially formed kernel coating Hh
Part A
Drag and drop a molecule into each box in the equation to show the chemical reaction corn plants use to make food. Each chemical symbol may be used once or not at all.
(1 point)
Drop target 1
Drop target 2
Drop target 3
Drop target 4
Question 2
Part B
Identify the source that provides energy for the chemical reaction in Part A to occur.
(1 point)
Question 3
Part C
Describe how human cells use the products from the chemical reaction in Part A. Be sure to include the process that occurs at the cellular level.
(2 points)
0 / 10000 Word Limit
Skip to navigation
Answers
GPT-4o mini
### Part A
In the chemical reaction that corn plants (and other plants) use to make food, the following molecules are involved:
1. **Drop target 1**: Carbon dioxide (CO₂)
2. **Drop target 2**: Water (H₂O)
3. **Drop target 3**: Glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆)
4. **Drop target 4**: Oxygen (O₂)
The overall simplified equation for photosynthesis, which is the process that corn plants use to convert light energy into chemical energy in the form of glucose, can be shown as:
\[
6 \, CO₂ + 6 \, H₂O + light \, energy \rightarrow C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6 \, O₂
\]
### Part B
The source that provides energy for the chemical reaction in Part A to occur is **sunlight**. Corn plants capture sunlight through their leaves using chlorophyll, which facilitates the conversion of carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen during photosynthesis.
### Part C
Human cells use the products from the chemical reaction in Part A, specifically glucose and oxygen, primarily through the process of **cellular respiration**.
1. **Glucose Utilization**: The glucose produced during photosynthesis is transported to human cells through the bloodstream. Once inside the cells, glucose undergoes a series of enzymatic reactions in the cytoplasm through a process called glycolysis, where it is broken down into smaller molecules (pyruvate), producing a small amount of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which is the energy currency of the cell.
2. **Aerobic Respiration**: If oxygen is present, the pyruvate then enters the mitochondria where aerobic respiration occurs. During this process, the pyruvate is further oxidized in the Krebs cycle (also known as the citric acid cycle), producing more ATP along with carbon dioxide and water as by-products. The majority of ATP is generated via the electron transport chain, where electrons from glucose are transferred through a series of proteins, ultimately using oxygen to form water.
The overall outcome of cellular respiration is the release of energy stored in glucose, which is vital for cellular functions, growth, and maintenance in human bodies. The carbon dioxide produced during this process is then exhaled as waste.
In the chemical reaction that corn plants (and other plants) use to make food, the following molecules are involved:
1. **Drop target 1**: Carbon dioxide (CO₂)
2. **Drop target 2**: Water (H₂O)
3. **Drop target 3**: Glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆)
4. **Drop target 4**: Oxygen (O₂)
The overall simplified equation for photosynthesis, which is the process that corn plants use to convert light energy into chemical energy in the form of glucose, can be shown as:
\[
6 \, CO₂ + 6 \, H₂O + light \, energy \rightarrow C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6 \, O₂
\]
### Part B
The source that provides energy for the chemical reaction in Part A to occur is **sunlight**. Corn plants capture sunlight through their leaves using chlorophyll, which facilitates the conversion of carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen during photosynthesis.
### Part C
Human cells use the products from the chemical reaction in Part A, specifically glucose and oxygen, primarily through the process of **cellular respiration**.
1. **Glucose Utilization**: The glucose produced during photosynthesis is transported to human cells through the bloodstream. Once inside the cells, glucose undergoes a series of enzymatic reactions in the cytoplasm through a process called glycolysis, where it is broken down into smaller molecules (pyruvate), producing a small amount of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which is the energy currency of the cell.
2. **Aerobic Respiration**: If oxygen is present, the pyruvate then enters the mitochondria where aerobic respiration occurs. During this process, the pyruvate is further oxidized in the Krebs cycle (also known as the citric acid cycle), producing more ATP along with carbon dioxide and water as by-products. The majority of ATP is generated via the electron transport chain, where electrons from glucose are transferred through a series of proteins, ultimately using oxygen to form water.
The overall outcome of cellular respiration is the release of energy stored in glucose, which is vital for cellular functions, growth, and maintenance in human bodies. The carbon dioxide produced during this process is then exhaled as waste.