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9th grade Light reactions and the Calvin cycle worksheet

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Light reactions and the Calvin cycle

Grade 9 Science Worksheet

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. Ari reads that ADP, Pi and NADP+ leave the stroma. Which stage makes them, and what happens to them next?

    • The light reactions make them, and they are split in the thylakoids to release oxygen
    • The Calvin cycle makes them, and they go back to the light reactions to be refilled
    • The light reactions make them, and they go to the stroma to be refilled
    • The Calvin cycle makes them, and they leave the chloroplast with the G3P as waste
  2. Flow diagram (model, not to scale), drawn inside a chloroplast. Which zone box M is in is not shown. Bo reads that water is split and oxygen is released. Which stage is this, and where does it happen?

    • The Calvin cycle, in the stroma
    • Cellular respiration, in the thylakoid membranes
    • The light reactions, in the stroma
    • The light reactions, in the thylakoid membranes
  3. Esme reads that the enzyme RuBisCO joins carbon dioxide to a molecule that already holds carbon. Which step is this, and where does it happen?

    • Fixation, in the stroma
    • Light absorption, in the thylakoid membranes
    • Reduction, in the stroma
    • Fixation, in the thylakoid membranes
  4. Read this first

    Use the table

    A water plant when the lamp goes off (model data). Lab card, read about only. A water plant is lit by a lamp, and then the lamp goes off.

    timeoxygen releasedATP and NADPH madeG3P made, all in units per minute
    lamp on101010
    just after the lamp goes off006
    a while after the lamp goes off000
  5. Jun's class reads a card about a water plant. Which statement fits the card?

    • G3P making keeps going unchanged, since the light reactions build the sugar
    • G3P making stops first, then oxygen and ATP and NADPH stop
    • Oxygen and ATP and NADPH stop first; G3P making falls to zero a little later
    • G3P making rises in the dark, since the Calvin cycle is the dark reaction
  6. Use this

    Flow diagram (model, not to scale). In the thylakoid membranes: a wavy arrow of light energy goes in, but the water box is empty. In the stroma: carbon dioxide goes in.

  7. Kira imagines a leaf with light and carbon dioxide but no water for the light reactions to split. Which prediction fits?

    • Oxygen is still released, since it comes from the carbon dioxide
    • No oxygen is released, since water is the source of the oxygen
    • More sugar is made, since light alone can build the sugar
    • No oxygen is released, but sugar still forms, since the Calvin cycle needs no help from the light reactions
  8. “Flow diagram (model, not to scale),” Luz reads that on a hot, dry day a leaf's guard cells close its stomata. What happens to sugar making?

    • It rises, since the closed stomata keep more carbon dioxide inside
    • It falls, since less carbon dioxide reaches the Calvin cycle
    • It falls, since less water reaches the stroma to be split
    • It stays the same, since the light reactions make the sugar
  9. Noah reads a graph from a water plant under a lamp. Which statement fits the line?

    • More light gives more oxygen, since more water is split by the light reactions
    • More light gives more oxygen, since the Calvin cycle makes more oxygen
    • Oxygen falls, since a plant under more light uses up more oxygen
    • Oxygen stays flat, since the stage that makes it needs no light
  10. Use this

    Flow diagram (model, not to scale), drawn inside the stroma. Each turn: 1 carbon dioxide goes in. One G3P with 3 carbon atoms leaves the cycle. The number of turns is not shown.

  11. Ren reads that each turn of the Calvin cycle fixes one carbon dioxide, and the G3P that leaves has three carbon atoms. How many turns does one leaving G3P take?

    • 6 turns, since glucose needs two G3P
    • 3 turns, since 3 carbon atoms must be fixed
    • 2 turns, since each turn makes 2 G3P
    • 1 turn, since 1 carbon dioxide makes 1 G3P
  12. Tala reads that three turns of the Calvin cycle use 6 ATP and 6 NADPH in the reduction step. How many ADP and NADP+ return to the light reactions?

    • 6 ADP and 6 NADP+
    • 6 ATP and 6 NADPH
    • 3 ADP and 3 NADP+
    • Zero ADP and NADP+, since the 6 ATP and 6 NADPH are used up for good
  13. Flow diagram (model, not to scale), drawn inside the thylakoid membranes. Zee reads that one split water releases one oxygen atom, and two atoms join to make one O2. How many O2 form from 8 split water molecules, and from which atoms?

    • 16 oxygen molecules, two for each split water
    • 8 oxygen molecules, one for each split water
    • 4 oxygen molecules, made from the oxygen atoms of carbon dioxide
    • 4 oxygen molecules, made from the 8 oxygen atoms of split water
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9th grade Light reactions and the Calvin cycle worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

Light reactions and the Calvin cycle. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can name the parts of a chloroplast that matter here: the thylakoid membranes (with chlorophyll), the stacks called grana, and the stroma around them.
  • I can say what the light reactions do (chlorophyll absorbs light, water is split, oxygen is released, ATP and NADPH are made) and where (the thylakoid membranes).
  • I can say what the Calvin cycle does (it spends ATP and NADPH to fix carbon dioxide into the sugar G3P) and where (the stroma), and I can name its three stages: fixation, reduction and regeneration.
  • I can follow the carriers: ATP and NADPH go from the thylakoid membranes to the stroma, and ADP, Pi and NADP+ come back to be refilled.
  • I can use the counts that the book states: 3 turns of the cycle for one G3P to leave, 6 turns for one glucose, 6 ATP and 6 NADPH in the reduction stage and 3 more ATP in regeneration for 3 turns, 2 split waters for each O2.
  • I can read a model-data card to predict what happens when the light goes off, when the light color changes, or when carbon dioxide runs short, and I can say why the Calvin cycle is no longer called the dark reactions.

Standard: HS-LS1-5

Words to know

chloroplast: The plant-cell part where photosynthesis happens; it has two membranes around it

thylakoid: A flat, disc-shaped sac inside the chloroplast; its membrane holds chlorophyll

granum (plural grana): A stack of thylakoids

stroma: The liquid that fills the chloroplast around the stacks

chlorophyll: The green pigment that absorbs light, mainly blue and red

light reactions (light-dependent reactions): Stage 1: light is absorbed, water is split, ATP and NADPH are made

Calvin cycle (light-independent reactions): Stage 2: ATP and NADPH are spent to build sugar from carbon dioxide

ATP, NADPH: The two energy carriers the light reactions fill and the Calvin cycle spends

Common mistakes

Your child thought the Calvin cycle (once called the dark reactions) runs on its own at night, with no help from light. It spends ATP and NADPH made by the light reactions. Ask your child what the Calvin cycle spends.

Your child put a stage in the wrong part of the chloroplast. The light reactions happen in the thylakoid membranes; the Calvin cycle happens in the stroma. Ask your child to point to each on a drawing.

Your child thought the oxygen comes from carbon dioxide or from the Calvin cycle. It comes from water split in the light reactions. Ask your child which molecule is split to release oxygen.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with light reactions and the calvin cycle?

Your child thought the Calvin cycle (once called the dark reactions) runs on its own at night, with no help from light. It spends ATP and NADPH made by the light reactions. Ask your child what the Calvin cycle spends.

Are these 9th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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