Respiration and Metabolism

• What is respiration?

  The process of transferring energy from the breakdown of glucose
• Where does respiration occur?

  In living cells
• How do organisms use energy from respiration?

  • Building up large molecules from smaller ones
  • In animals it is used to contract muscles
  • In mammals and birds it is used to keep body temperature steady
• What is metabolism?

  The sum of all chemical reactions in an organism
• Many reactions join in chains of smaller reactions to form an overall bigger reaction
• Give 3 examples of large molecules being made from smaller molecules:

  • Starch is created from many glucose molecules
  • Lipids are created from one molecule of glycerol and three fatty acids
  • Amino acids are made from glucose and nitrate ions
  • Proteins are created from many amino acids
• Give 2 examples of large molecules being broken down:

  • Glucose is broken down during respiration to transfer energy
  • Excess proteins are broken down to produce urea