The Leaf Food Factory

You are the chemical messengers in a plant leaf.

Your job is to collect the atoms needed to make food for the plant. The food for the plant is a simple sugar. To make the simple sugar,

you need 6 carbon atoms (C)		carbon atom C
and 12 hydrogen atoms (H)		hydrogen atom H
and 6 oxygen atoms (O).		oxygen atom O

You collect these atoms of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen

in water molecules (H2O)

and carbon dioxide molecules (CO2).

You also need 6 units of sunlight to complete the chemical change from water and carbon dioxide to sugar.

TOTAL NEEDED TO COMPLETE THE GAME:

6 units of sunlight
AND 6 molecules of water (H2O) WHICH = 12 atoms of hydrogen and 6 atoms of oxygen
AND 6 molecules of carbon dioxide (CO2) WHICH = 6 atoms of carbon and 12 atoms of oxygen.

THE WINNING COMBINATION:  

This is the chemical formula for the simple sugar molecule that is the basic food for the plant.

You cannot make a sugar molecule unless you also have one unit of sunlight for every water molecule and carbon dioxide molecule. That means you will need 6 water molecules and 6 carbon dioxide molecules and 6 sun units to make one sugar molecule. You must have sunlight to make the chlorophyll in the leaf excited about doing its photosynthesis. When you have all 6 units of sunlight, you can change the water and carbon dioxide molecules into the sugar you need for your food—and for the food for all the rest of the animal world.

Your job is critical to all animal life on the planet. You are the food producer. All the animals, including the humans, rely on you to survive. You must succeed.

 

Perhaps you already know about molecules and atoms. Just in case you have forgotten, here is a brief reminder. The atom is one of the basic units of matter. Everything around us is made up of atoms. An atom is very tiny—more than a million times smaller than the thickness of a human hair! Atoms are the building blocks of the simplest elements, such as hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon. Molecules are more complex than atoms and are made of two or more linked atoms. Water, for example, is a molecule made of two atoms of hydrogen linked to one atom of oxygen. Oxygen is an atom and it is also a molecule. The oxygen in the air we breathe is actually two oxygen atoms linked together. That is why it has the chemical formula O2. Scientists use chemical formulas to show atoms connected into molecules. For example, a water molecule is made from 2 hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Its chemical formula is written H2O. The chemical formula CO2 represents carbon dioxide. Atoms link together in molecules through strong attractive forces called bonds. For example, in this illustration, the lines stand for the bonds between the atoms. These atoms are combined to make a simple sugar called glucose. Count the atoms and see how this illustration compares to the chemical formula for the simple sugar in this game:

RULES:

Each board can hold 4 players. Each player should provide a playing piece. Playing pieces can be coins, rings, nuts, small bottle caps, stones or other small objects. Put the playing pieces on the START space.

Arrange the atoms:

Each player begins with 3 molecules of water (H2O) and 3 molecules of carbon dioxide (CO2). How many atoms total is that?

6 H
9 0
3 C

Each player should organize his/her atoms into molecules of water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2).

Put all the remaining H and 1/3 of the O in the water resources box.
Put all the remaining C and 2/3 of the O in the air resources box.
Put the units of sunlight in the light box.

Stack the challenge cards, question sides up, on the challenge space on the board.

Set the die by the board.

Roll a die to see who goes first. The highest number goes first. For each move, roll the die and move the number of spaces shown.

Each space on the board has directions. Some directions ask you to collect water molecules or carbon dioxide molecules, and some directions tell you to give up your water or carbon dioxide. Other directions tell you to select a challenge card or allow you to trade your molecules and units of sunlight.

CHALLENGE CARDS: When you land on a space that says “Time for a Challenge Card,” you must draw a card from the Challenge Card stack. Read the question aloud and then answer the question. After you have answered, turn the card over and read the correct answer. If you answered correctly, you may collect one unit of sunlight. If you answered incorrectly, you must sacrifice one unit of sunlight or one set of atoms that make a water molecule AND one set of atoms that make a carbon dioxide molecule. (You will return the unit of sunlight to the light box OR put 2 Hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom—H2O—in the water resources box AND you will put one carbon atom and 2 oxygen atoms—CO2—in the air resources box.) Put the used Challenge Card under card stack so it can be used again.

When you land on a BALANCE SPACE, you may trade your resources. You may trade as much as you want any time you land on a BALANCE SPACE, but you are NOT REQUIRED to make a trade. If you do make a trade:

one unit of sunlight = one H2O AND one CO2
one unit of sunlight = two H2O
one unit of sunlight = two CO2
one CO2 = one H2O

The first player who finishes receives a primary food-maker reward, and then helps the other players complete their collection. All players continue until all players have completed their collection and made a simple sugar.

Game Board: Click on each image to go to a large, printable version.

Front of Challenge Cards 1-12:

Back of Challenge Cards 1-12:

 

7 ANSWER: All animals depend on the food the plants produce.	1 ANSWER: Carbon dioxide is the plant food ingredient that comes into the leaf through the stomata.
8 ANSWER: The chemical formula for a simple sugar is	2 ANSWER: The tubes that carry water from the roots to the leaf are named Xylem
9 ANSWER: the name for the mouth-like pores that open to let in carbon dioxide (CO2 ) and let out oxygen (O) and water (H2O) is stomata.	3 ANSWER: The tubes that carry food (simple sugars) from the leaves to the rest of the plant are named Phloem
10 ANSWER: The name of the food transportation tube of the plant’s main plumbing system is phloem	4 ANSWER: The veins (a.) carry food and (b.) carry water.
11 ANSWER: Oxygen is leftover when water and carbon dioxide are changed through photosynthesis into a simple sugar.	5 ANSWER: Chlorophyll traps and packages the sun’s energy.
12 ANSWER: Photosynthesis is the name for the chemical change of the sun’s light energy into food in the plant	6 ANSWER: The plant uses the food or stores it for later use.

Front of Challenge Cards 13-24:

CHALLENGE CARD 13 QUESTION: What is the chemical formula for a water molecule?	CHALLENGE CARD 19 QUESTION: Name one of the two main substances that come out of the leaf through the stomata.
CHALLENGE CARD 14 QUESTION: What is the chemical formula for carbon dioxide?	CHALLENGE CARD 20 QUESTION: Animals cannot make their own food. True or false?
CHALLENGE CARD 15 QUESTION: What is the chemical formula for the oxygen in the air we breathe?	CHALLENGE CARD 21 QUESTION: The main food factories in plants are the flowers. True or false?
CHALLENGE CARD 16 QUESTION: Oxygen is the name for a molecule and an atom. True or false?	CHALLENGE CARD 22 QUESTION: The reverse of photosynthesis in a plant is respiration. True or false?
CHALLENGE CARD 17 QUESTION: Make up a question about photosynthesis to ask one other player. You can look at your background information on photosynthesis to help you. If s/he gives the correct answer, you both win. If s/he gives the incorrect answer, the other players win. No cheating!	CHALLENGE CARD 23 QUESTION: A leaf has only a few stomata. True or false?
CHALLENGE CARD 18 QUESTION: Make up a question about photosynthesis to ask one other player. You can look at your background information on photosynthesis to help you. If s/he gives the correct answer, you lose. If s/he gives the incorrect answer, you win. No cheating!	CHALLENGE CARD 24 QUESTION: Plants cannot move at all! True or False?

Back of Challenge Cards 13-24:

7 Return to Appendices7 Return to Table of Contents