My metabolism that fights!

Knowing the carbon way to Energy generation in the cell

Abstract

Biochemistry aims to clarify the biological form and role of the chemical mechanisms and processes that occur in organisms. The set of all chemical transformations found in living organisms is called metabolism. Most living things obtain energy through metabolic processes that involve the oxidation of carbon from carbonaceous nutrients. The understanding of how these biochemical reactions work is important for the understanding of the dynamics between the environment and organisms for the processes of obtaining energy and producing molecules, however, such knowledge occurs superficially within the schools, in a little explored way. This paper aims to present a proposal for an investigative activity to be applied to high school students, aiming at the understanding of the interactions between the ways of obtaining biochemical organic compounds and energy production in cells, with the understanding of the related chemical and biological processes; moreover, the activity enables the stimulation of criticality in the development of the scientific method from the guiding question: "How does the car engine work? The proposal is to develop an Investigative Teaching Sequence about the processes of obtaining energy in the cell, in order to involve students in analysis and discussion, from the problematization and subsequent raising of hypotheses and research, culminating with the production of an illustrated puzzle about the metabolic processes involved in the discussion.