Boxi Learn › Biology › Stage 3 · Structure and Evidence
Breathing is not respiration
BIO-3 Matter cycles, energy flowsBIO-1 Cells are the units of lifeX-3 Look from another side
What many people think
Respiration means breathing, and it happens only in the lungs.
The idea
Breathing only moves air in and out of the lungs; respiration, releasing energy from glucose (almost always with oxygen), happens inside every living cell, day and night, in plants too.
Explain it
A friend says “respiration is breathing, so it happens in the lungs, and plants don't do it”. Using the oxygen trip and the leaf in the dark, explain where respiration happens and what breathing is for.
Try at home
Count your breaths and your pulse for one minute sitting still, then again right after 30 jumping jacks. Both rise. Which cells asked for the extra oxygen?