General

Biology 1 12
Earth Science – Grade 12
Quarter 2 – Module 11: The Calvin Cycle
First Edition, 2020

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 General
Biology 1
12
Quarter 2
Self-Learning Module 11
The Calvin Cycle
Introductory Message
For the facilitator:

Welcome to the General Biology 1 Self-Learning Module 11 on The Calvin

Cycle

This Self-Learning Module was collaboratively designed, developed and

reviewed by educators from the Schools Division Office of Pasig City headed by its
Officer-in-Charge Schools Division Superintendent, Ma. Evalou Concepcion A.
Agustin, in partnership with the City Government of Pasig through its mayor,
Honorable Victor Ma. Regis N. Sotto. The writers utilized the standards set by the K
to 12 Curriculum using the Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELC) in
developing this instructional resource.

This learning material hopes to engage the learners in guided and independent
learning activities at their own pace and time. Further, this also aims to help learners
acquire the needed 21st century skills especially the 5 Cs, namely: Communication,
Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Character while taking into
consideration their needs and circumstances.

In addition to the material in the main text, you will also see this box in the
body of the module:

Notes to the Teacher

This contains helpful tips or strategies that
will help you in guiding the learners.

As a facilitator you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this
module. You also need to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing them to
manage their own learning. Moreover, you are expected to encourage and assist the
learners as they do the tasks included in the module.
 For the Learner:

Welcome to the General Biology 1 Self-Learning Module 11 on The Calvin

Cycle

This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful
opportunities for guided and independent learning at your own pace and time. You
will be enabled to process the contents of the learning material while being an active
learner.

This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:

Expectations - This points to the set of knowledge and skills

that you will learn after completing the module.

Pretest - This measures your prior knowledge about the lesson

at hand.

Recap - This part of the module provides a review of concepts

and skills that you already know about a previous lesson.

Lesson - This section discusses the topic in the module.

Activities - This is a set of activities that you need to perform.

Wrap-Up - This section summarizes the concepts and

application of the lesson.

Valuing - This part integrates a desirable moral value in the

lesson.

Posttest – This measures how much you have learned from the
entire module.
 EXPECTATIONS

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Describe the significant events of the Calvin cycle
2. Identify key components of the Calvin cycle process
3. Realize the importance of Calvin cycle to organisms in the ecosystems.

PRETEST

Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer.

_________1. How many ATP and NADPH molecules are required to synthesize one
molecule of glucose in Calvin cycle?
A. 18 ATP, 12 NADPH
B. 12 ATP, 12 NADPH
C. 12 ATP, 12 NADH
D. 18 ATP, 12 NADH

_________2. How many molecules of 3 – phosphoglycerate is synthesized from the

reaction between 6CO2 and 6RuBP?
A. 3
B. 6
C. 12
D. 18
_________3. How many ATP and NADPH molecules are used in the reduction phase
to convert 3-phosphoglycerate to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate?
A. 6 ATP , 6 NADPH
B. 6 ATP only
C. 12 ATP , 12 NADPH
D. 12 NADPH only
_________4. What enzyme is involved in CO2 fixation of Calvin cycle ?
A. RuBisO
B. RuBisCo
C. PEP Carboxylase
D. Phosphoglycerokinase
_________5. How many ATP and NADPH is used for the regeneration of 6RuBp
molecules?
A. 12 ATP , 6 NADPH
B. 12 ATP only
C. 6 ATP , 6 NADPH
D. 6 ATP only
 RECAP

In the previous module, we studied the patterns of electron flow through light
reaction events (Photosystem I and II) Let us recall the past lesson by answering the
activity below.

Activity 5.1. Using the illustration, identify the steps that took place in an electron
transport chain. Be guided by clue words mentioned at the beginning of each
sentence.

1. Proton pumps ________________________________________________________________

2. ATP synthase ________________________________________________________________

3. Oxygen _______________________________________________________________________

You, like all organisms on Earth, are a carbon-based life form. In other words,
the complex molecules of your amazing body are built on carbon backbones. You
might already know that you’re carbon-based, but have you ever wondered where all
of that carbon comes from?
 LESSON

THE CALVIN CYCLE: LIGHT INDEPENDENT PROCESS

In plants, carbon
dioxide, enters the
interior of a leaf via pores
called stomata and
diffuses into the stroma
of the chloroplast—the
site of the Calvin
cycle reactions, where
sugar is synthesized.
These reactions are also
called the light-
independent reactions
because they are not
directly driven by light.

In the Calvin cycle,

carbon atoms from CO2
are fixed (incorporated
Figure 8.1 “ The Calvin Cycle – Light-dependent processes. Source::www. national geographic.orh
into organic molecules) and
used to build three-carbon sugars. This process is fueled by, and dependent on, ATP
and NADPH from the light reactions. Unlike the light reactions, which take place in
the thylakoid membrane, the reactions of the Calvin cycle take place in the stroma
(the inner space of chloroplasts).
The Calvin cycle reactions can be divided into three main stages: carbon fixation,
reduction, and regeneration of the starting molecule.

Figure 8.2: The stages / phases of the Calvin cycle Source:www.khanacademy.com.ph

1. Carbon fixation. A molecule combines with a five-carbon acceptor molecule,

ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP). This step makes a six-carbon compound that
splits into two molecules of a three-carbon compound, 3-phosphoglyceric acid (3-
PGA). This reaction is catalyzed by the enzyme RuBP carboxylase/oxygenase, or
rubisco.

2. Reduction. In the second stage, ATP and NADPH are used to convert the 3-PGA
molecules into molecules of a three-carbon sugar, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate
(G3P). This stage gets its name because NADPH donates electrons to, or reduces, a
three-carbon intermediate to make G3P. [Details of this step]

3. Regeneration. Some G3P molecules go to make glucose, while others must be

recycled to regenerate the RuBP acceptor. Regeneration requires ATP and involves a
complex network of reactions, which my college bio professor liked to call the
"carbohydrate scramble."

In order for one G3P to exit the cycle (and go towards glucose synthesis), three CO2
molecules must enter the cycle, providing three new atoms of fixed carbon. When
CO2 molecules enter the cycle, six G3P molecules are made. One exits the cycle and
 is used to make glucose, while the other five must be recycled to regenerate three
molecules of the RuBP acceptor.

Calvin cycle reactants and products

Three turns of the Calvin cycle are needed to make one G3P molecule that can exit
the cycle and go towards making glucose. Let’s summarize the quantities of key
molecules that enter and exit the Calvin cycle as one net G3P is made. In three
turns of the Calvin cycle:

• Carbon. 3 CO2 combine with 3 RuBP acceptors, making 6 molecules of

glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (G3P).

• 1 G3P molecule exits the cycle and goes towards making glucose.

• 5 G3P molecules are recycled, regenerating 3 RuBP acceptor molecules.

ATP. 9 ATP are converted

to 9 ADP (6 during the fixation
step, 3 during the regeneration
step).

NADPH. 6 NADPH are

converted to 6 NADP+(during
the reduction step).

A G3P molecule contains three

fixed carbon atoms, so it takes
two G3Ps to build a six-carbon
glucose molecule. It would take
six turns of the cycle, or 6 CO2
, 18 ATP, and 12 NADPH, to
produce one molecule of
glucose
Figure 8.3: Carbon Fixation, Reduction and Regeneration of RuBP as part of the Calvin Cycle process:
 ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITY 8.2. Label the diagram with the three phases of the Calvin Cycle

ACTIVITY 8.3. Briefly describe the events that took place on each phase , then
answer the guide questions shown.

Description:

________________________________________
________________________________________

What enzyme catalyzes the reaction in

this phase?

________________________________________
________________________________________
_
Description:

________________________________________
________________________________________
________________________________________
________________________________________
________________________________________
________________________________________

Description:
________________________________________
________________________________________
Why is the series of reactions in the
Calvin cycle called “cycle”?
________________________________________
________________________________________

At the end of the Calvin cycle, what

molecules have the energy that originally
came from light?
________________________________________
________________________________________
________________________________________

ACTIVITY 8.4. Let us try to test your knowledge by answering the following
questions:

1. Based on everything you’ve learned from the discussions, what is the overall
purpose of photosynthesis?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
 WRAP-UP

2. Describe how oxygen gas (O2) is produced during photosynthesis. Include the
specific structures in the plant where the reaction occurs.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

3. Describe the path of an electron from a molecule of water to the sugar G3P
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

4. Describe how ATP is produced in the light reactions.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

ACTIVITY 8.5. Create a diagram in relation to the given situation:

When three molecules of carbon dioxide (CO2) react with three molecules of
RuBP during the Calvin cycle, six molecules of the sugar G3P are produced.
One G3P molecule exits the Calvin cycle during Phase 2. What happens to the
other five G3P molecules?
 VALUING

The Calvin cycle is a part of photosynthesis, the process plants and other
autotrophs use to create nutrients from sunlight and carbon dioxide. The process
was first identified by American biochemist Dr. Melvin Calvin in 1957. Can you
exemplify different human activities that may cause alterations in this very important
process in the environment?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

POSTTEST

Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer.

_________1. The Calvin cycle is considered light-independent because it can occur in
darkness. However, most often the Calvin cycle takes place in the sunlight.
Which of the following likely explains why?
A. Sunlight is important in activating carbon fixation in the Calvin cycle.
B. The Calvin cycle requires ATP and NADPH , which require sunlight to be
produced.
C. The enzymes involved in the Calvin cycle are unable to bind substrates
in the dark.
D. RuBP regeneration requires sunlight in order to occur and continue the
Calvin cycle.

_________2. The light reactions of photosynthesis supply the Calvin cycle with
A. ATP and NADPH
B. light energy
C. sugar and O2
D. H2O and NADPH

_________3. Which of the following sequences correctly represents the flow of electrons
during photosynthesis?
A. NADPH – O2 – CO2
B. H2O – NADPH – Calvin cycle
C. NADPH – chlorophyll – Calvin cycle
D. H2O – photosystem I – photosystem II

_________4. In mechanism, photophosphorylation is most similar to:

A. Carbon fixation
B. the Calvin cycle
C. substrate – level phosphorylation in glycolysis
D. oxidative phosphorylation in cellular respiration
_________5. Use the following figure and the stages labelled A, B, C, D and E to answer
the question:

If ATP used by this plant is labelled with radioactive phosphorous , in which

molecules will the radioactivity be measurable after one “turn” of the cycle?
A. in B, C, and D only
B. in B, C, D, and E
C. in B and C only
D. in B and E only
 KEY TO CORRECTION

REFERENCES
Batista, Jeremy, Cena Christianilly. May 29, 2019. https://www.STUDY.com/simple-science-chloroplast-structure-function-
examples

Introduction to Plants Lesson Accessed July 14, 2020. https://www.bu.edu/gk12/xiaojuan/Lessons/chloroplast.html.

Hoefnagels, Marielle. General Biology. McGraw-Hill Education. Abiva Publishing House,Inc. 2016.

Learning, Lumen. “Anatomy and Physiology I.” Lumen. Accessed July 7, 2020. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/austincc-
ap1/chapter/botany

Miller, Stephen A. Zoology. McGraw-Hill. New York. 2010.

Starr, Cecie. Evers, Christine. and Lisa. Starr. Biology: Today and Tomorrow Biology for Non Science
Majors. Cengage Learning. 2010
Study.com. Accessed July 14, 2020. https://study.com/academy/practice/quiz-worksheet-characteristics-of-
chloroplast.html.
Posts, Related, and About The Author sana. “OBJECTIVE FOR Diffusion. Osmosis Absorption. Translocation &
Transpiration.” Its all about Zoology , Botany and Biology. Accessed July 14, 2020.
https://biologyboom.com/objective-for-diffusion-osmosis-absorption-translocation-transpiration/.
https://www.britannica.com/science/chloroplast
Sciencing.com. Accessed July 14, 2020. https://sciencing.com/academy/practice/quiz-worksheet-four stages of
cellular respiration.html.
Sciencing.com. Accessed July 18, 2020. https://sciencing.com/academy/practice/quiz-worksheet-importance of
pigments in photosynthesis.html.