Ugh
Seriously, this is what is wrong with science education. There is just so much wrong with it I don't even know where to begin. It's supposed to teach students the order of the steps and the major inputs and outputs in the fundamental processes that power all plants and animals. But sliding those tiles around is unnecessarily frustrating and time consuming without making the material any easier to learn.
The order of the first few tiles seems a little arbitrary, and the guide “book” isn't a huge help. For example this page tells you that energy is first transferred to chlorophyll and then to the electron transport chain. The ETC simultaneously does two different things: makes ATP and splits H2O. This releases oxygen and H+, and the latter makes NADPH which along with ATP is used for the part of the process.
So you look at your tiles to see if you can start putting the first few elements in order. A single tile lists chlorophyll, H2O and CO2, then there's one for electron transfer, one for energy and so on. The guide says that there is some sort of energy transfer to chlorophyll which involves (or is followed by?) something mysterious happening with these electrons, which do something to water. So where does CO2 come in? Does electron transfer come before or after [H2O + CO2 + chlorophyll]? And what the hell does all of this mean anyway? Reading the rest of the guide instead of relying on a single diagram might clear things up, but it might not. On the page opposite the diagram it's revealed that, “…in the presence of chlorophyll, water, carbon dioxide, and light energy combine during electron transport…” (emphasis added). Going by this statement makes ordering these three tiles seem absurd because they appear to constitute a single event. The diagram implies that there is a definite order, but this order is not reflected in the way the items are grouped on the tiles.
I could go on and on, but the worst thing is that the little Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration Guide contains several factual errors! So if you've read all this (or just skipped down to the last paragraph) I will totally buy you a paid account if you spot one of the errors and post it in the comments. I spotted at least one blatantly false statement, plus several questionable or misleading items.
The order of the first few tiles seems a little arbitrary, and the guide “book” isn't a huge help. For example this page tells you that energy is first transferred to chlorophyll and then to the electron transport chain. The ETC simultaneously does two different things: makes ATP and splits H2O. This releases oxygen and H+, and the latter makes NADPH which along with ATP is used for the part of the process.
So you look at your tiles to see if you can start putting the first few elements in order. A single tile lists chlorophyll, H2O and CO2, then there's one for electron transfer, one for energy and so on. The guide says that there is some sort of energy transfer to chlorophyll which involves (or is followed by?) something mysterious happening with these electrons, which do something to water. So where does CO2 come in? Does electron transfer come before or after [H2O + CO2 + chlorophyll]? And what the hell does all of this mean anyway? Reading the rest of the guide instead of relying on a single diagram might clear things up, but it might not. On the page opposite the diagram it's revealed that, “…in the presence of chlorophyll, water, carbon dioxide, and light energy combine during electron transport…” (emphasis added). Going by this statement makes ordering these three tiles seem absurd because they appear to constitute a single event. The diagram implies that there is a definite order, but this order is not reflected in the way the items are grouped on the tiles.
I could go on and on, but the worst thing is that the little Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration Guide contains several factual errors! So if you've read all this (or just skipped down to the last paragraph) I will totally buy you a paid account if you spot one of the errors and post it in the comments. I spotted at least one blatantly false statement, plus several questionable or misleading items.