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North CarolinaBiology

From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How does cellular respiration release the energy stored in glucose as ATP?

Use models to describe how cellular respiration converts the chemical energy in glucose into ATP, comparing aerobic and anaerobic respiration (North Carolina Standard Course of Study, Biology, LS.Bio.3).
A standard-level answer on cellular respiration for the North Carolina Biology EOC: the equation, the role of the mitochondrion, the difference between aerobic and anaerobic respiration, and fermentation.
13 min answer →

How are photosynthesis and cellular respiration connected in the flow of energy and matter?

Compare photosynthesis and cellular respiration and explain how they cycle matter and energy between organisms and the environment (North Carolina Standard Course of Study, Biology, LS.Bio.3).
A standard-level answer for the North Carolina Biology EOC on how photosynthesis and cellular respiration are linked: opposite equations, the cycling of carbon and oxygen, and the flow of energy from sunlight to ATP.
12 min answer →

How do feedback mechanisms keep an organism's internal conditions stable?

Investigate and explain how feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis in living organisms (North Carolina Standard Course of Study, Biology, LS.Bio.3).
A standard-level answer on homeostasis for the North Carolina Biology EOC: what homeostasis is, how negative feedback loops work, examples such as temperature and blood sugar, and positive feedback.
12 min answer →

How does photosynthesis convert light energy into stored chemical energy?

Use models to describe how photosynthesis converts light energy into stored chemical energy in glucose (North Carolina Standard Course of Study, Biology, LS.Bio.3).
A standard-level answer on photosynthesis for the North Carolina Biology EOC: the reactants, products, and equation, the role of the chloroplast and chlorophyll, the two stages, and the factors that affect the rate.
13 min answer →

Why is water essential to life, and what role does ATP play in the cell?

Explain the properties of water that make it essential to life and describe ATP as the cell's energy currency (North Carolina Standard Course of Study, Biology, LS.Bio.3).
A standard-level answer on the chemistry of life for the North Carolina Biology EOC: the properties of water (polarity, cohesion, solvent), the role of ATP as energy currency, and why these matter for life processes.
12 min answer →