Teaching ideas

Chapter 6 Plant nutrition

Syllabus sections covered: 6.1, 6.2, 6.3

Teaching resources
40-minute Resources in Resources in Resources on
Syllabus Topic
periods Coursebook Workbook this CD-ROM
6.1 Types of 1 Questions 6.1 to 6.3 Worksheet 6.1
nutrition; The photosynthesis
photosynthesis equation
6.2 Leaves 2 to 3 Questions 6.4 to 6.15 Exercise 6.1 Worksheet 6.2
EOCQs 2, 4 How a palisade Leaves as food and
cell obtains its shelter
Activity 6.1 requirements
Use a microscope to
observe the cells that cover Exercise 6.2
a leaf Sun and shade leaves

6.1, 6.3 Products of 2 to 4 Questions 6.16 to 6.19

photosynthesis EOCQs 1, 3, 5, 6, 7
Activity 6.2
Testing a leaf for starch
Activity 6.5
To show that oxygen is
produced in photosynthesis
6.1 Factors 2 to 6 Questions 6.20 to 6.22 Exercise 6.3
affecting EOCQ 8 Limiting factors
photosynthesis
Activity 6.3 Exercise 6.4
To see if light is needed for Effect of increased
photosynthesis carbon dioxide and
temperature on tree
Activity 6.4
growth
To see if chlorophyll is
needed for photosynthesis
Activity 6.6
To see if carbon dioxide is
needed for photosynthesis
Activity 6.7
Photosynthesis in a pond
weed
Activity 6.8
Investigating the effect
of light intensity on
photosynthesis
(continued)

© Cambridge University Press 2014 IGCSE® Biology Chapter 6: Teaching ideas 1

 40-minute Resources in Resources in Resources on
Syllabus Topic
periods Coursebook Workbook this CD-ROM
Activity 6.9
Investigating the effect of
carbon dioxide concentration
on the rate of photosynthesis
Activity 6.10
Investigating the effect of
temperature on the rate of
photosynthesis

Topic 1 Types of nutrition; photosynthesis

Coursebook sections 6.1, 6.2

Teaching ideas
This chapter, like Chapter 5, provides ideal opportunities for students to work intensively
on building their practical skills. There are many practical activities in the Coursebook, and
exercises in the Workbook and worksheets.
◆ Most students are likely to know something about photosynthesis, so you could ask them
to tell you what plants use and what they make, and what the energy source is. You can
then build up the word equation. It is good to have some plants visible, either in the room
or outside – encourage students to look at them and to tell you why they are green.
◆ Students following the Supplement also need to know the balanced equation. You could
use Worksheet 6.1 The photosynthesis equation, at this point.

Common misunderstandings and misconceptions

◆ Students often write that ‘photosynthesis is the way that plants respire’.

Homework ideas
◆ Coursebook questions 6.1 to 6.3
◆ Worksheet 6.1 The photosynthesis equation

Topic 2 Leaves
Coursebook section 6.3

Teaching ideas
◆ Leaf structure is easy for students to study and understand. You could give students two
very different leaves (e.g. from a monocot and dicot) and ask them to make drawings of
them, calculate magnification, and produce a table comparing their structures.
◆ Activity 6.1 Use a microscope to observe the cells that cover a leaf, makes a good
introduction to the internal, microscopic structure of a leaf – students learn that there are
little holes in the lower epidermis, and can then find out where they lead to.
◆ Introduce diagrams or photographs of the internal structure of leaves. Scanning
electronmicrographs, such as Figure 6.4 in the Coursebook, are a good starting point, as
they show the structures in three dimensions, which may be easier for some students to
relate to reality than diagrams such as Figure 6.3. Show students a whole leaf, cut or tear it
in half and explain that they are looking at the very thin edge.

© Cambridge University Press 2014 IGCSE® Biology Chapter 6: Teaching ideas 2

◆ You could provide a sheet of paper with drawings of individual cells from each of the
layers, which students can cut out and paste onto a sheet of paper to build up a ‘diagram’ of
a transverse section through a leaf.
◆ Once the structure of the leaf has been covered, you can ask students to suggest how
water, light and carbon dioxide get to a chloroplast inside a palisade cell (which is where
most photosynthesis takes place). If you have a model showing leaf structure, this can be
very helpful.

Common misunderstandings and misconceptions

◆ Students often do not appreciate what diagrams of a transverse section of a leaf represent,
because they cannot imagine that something as thin as a leaf can contain so many layers
of cells.
◆ Students often think that water enters leaves through the stomata.
◆ They may think that leaves (particularly the stomata) do something active to bring carbon
dioxide into the leaf.
◆ Students say that chlorophyll ‘attracts’ sunlight, rather than absorbs energy from it.
◆ They tend to confuse chlorophyll with chloroplasts.

Homework ideas
◆ Coursebook questions 6.4 to 6.15
◆ End-of-chapter questions 2, 4
◆ Workbook exercise 6.1 How a palisade cell obtains its requirements
◆ Workbook exercise 6.2 Sun and shade leaves
◆ Worksheet 6.2 Leaves as food and shelter

Topic 3 Products of photosynthesis

Coursebook section 6.4, 6.5

Teaching ideas
◆ You could begin this topic by asking students what plants make in photosynthesis, working
towards the idea that a leaf will contain starch. Ask them to tell you how to test for starch,
and then drop some iodine solution onto the leaf. Ask the students why the leaf does not go
blue-black. Use discussion to draw out the idea that the starch is inside the chloroplasts in
the palisade cells, and that the iodine solution cannot get through the partially permeable
cell membranes to reach it. This can lead to a demonstration of how to test a leaf for starch,
as described in Activity 6.2 Testing a leaf for starch.
◆ Activity 6.5 To show that oxygen is produced in photosynthesis provides students with
first-hand experience of the production of oxygen. Depending on the temperature and
light intensity in the laboratory, you may be able to obtain results quite quickly, but may
need to leave the collection of results until the next lesson.
◆ Alternatively, Activity 6.7 Photosynthesis in a pond weed involves the collection of
quantitative results.
◆ A good follow-up to these practical activities could be the discussion of the other products
of photosynthesis, which are covered in Section 6.4 in the Coursebook. This is also a good
time to deal with the need for magnesium ions and nitrate ions.

© Cambridge University Press 2014 IGCSE® Biology Chapter 6: Teaching ideas 3

Common misunderstandings and misconceptions
◆ Some books say that the reason for boiling the leaf is to kill it, or to stop enzymes working.
Neither is correct; the purpose is to allow the iodine solution to come into contact with the
starch inside the leaf cells.

Homework ideas
◆ Coursebook questions 6.16 to 6.19
◆ End-of-chapter questions 1, 3, 5, 6, 7

Topic 4 Factors affecting photosynthesis

Coursebook section 6.5, 6.6, 6.7

Teaching ideas
◆ There are numerous Activities that could be done at this point. Activity 6.3, To see
if light is needed for photosynthesis, Activity 6.4, To see if chlorophyll is needed for
photosynthesis could be done by students. Activity 6.6, To see if carbon dioxide is needed
for photosynthesis, would be best done as a demonstration.
◆ Activity 6.8, Investigating the effect of light intensity on photosynthesis, is a planning
exercise. This is an excellent task for helping students to develop their scientific enquiry
skills. It is also a good introduction to the concept of limiting factors.
◆ Activity 6.9, Investigating the effect of carbon dioxide concentration on the rate of
photosynthesis, also involves limiting factors.
◆ Activity 6.10, Investigating the effect of temperature on the rate of photosynthesis, is
another planning exercise.
◆ The importance of photosynthesis to other living organisms can be discussed. This can be
revisited later, when respiration is discussed. Alternatively, you might like to carry out the
experiment described in Workbook exercise 11.2 The effect of animals and plants on the
carbon dioxide concentration in water, at this point.

Common misunderstandings and misconceptions

◆ Students often have difficulty in understanding that, when a graph such as that in
Figure 6.13 levels off, something other than the factor on the y-axis is limiting the rate
of photosynthesis.

Homework ideas
◆ Coursebook questions 6.20 to 6.22
◆ End-of-chapter question 8
◆ Workbook exercise 6.3 Limiting factors
◆ Workbook exercise 6.4 Effect of increased carbon dioxide and temperature on tree growth

© Cambridge University Press 2014 IGCSE® Biology Chapter 6: Teaching ideas 4