Upper School Scientists Magic Creativity into Cellular Respiration

It’s not every day you get to create a stop-animation video, a comic book, a board game, or a dating website all in the name of science! At MICDS though, that can be just one of the many fascinating days as part of Upper School Science Teacher Rachel Tourais’ Accelerated Science 10 class.

This semester, students in the Accelerated Biochemical Applications course were challenged to choose a specific topic related to cellular respiration. What is cellular respiration? It’s the process by which organisms derive energy from food through metabolism using a number of coordinated chemical reactions that capture the chemical energy from biological macromolecules and converts it into a different form of chemical energy a cell can use. Once they selected a specific topic to research, students were then in charge of producing an original, creative representation that demonstrated their understanding of their particular focus and the purpose of cellular respiration overall. Following the format of a project-based learning approach where learning happens through the completion of the project, students directed and took ownership of their learning, jumped into being creative while mastering new skills, and, consequently, learned a lot!

At the start, students explored the chemical pathways in cellular respiration in order to choose their project focus. They dove into research mode, learning about such topics as:

  • Energy transformations: The redox reactions in metabolism
  • The cycling of matter: Carbon
  • Metabolism of different macromolecules
  • Roles of enzymes and their types
  • The evolution of aerobic respiration

Then came the magic! Left and right, students could be seen gamifying the chemical process through programming interactive simulations or designing board games, authoring and illustrating stories and pop-up books, producing instructional videos, composing raps and music videos, constructing physical models using the Upper School Maker Space, and so much more. Check out their work on their projects below!

Once their products were created, students had fun presenting them in class this week. Check out photos from their presentations below!

Several students shared more about their project and product choices along with what they learned in completing this project:

  • Agatha Curylo ’24 created a comic book of the carbon cycle. “I came up with the idea for a comic book because I wanted to showcase the details I learned in my research through a medium that allowed me to add both humor and fun to my work while still keeping it engaging,” Agatha explained. “I liked being able to choose my topic and product since that truly allowed me to investigate something I was passionate about and interested in.” She also shared what she got out of the project: “I learned that most non-living and living things on our planet are connected through complex processes like the biogeochemical carbon cycle…everything from chemistry and physics to geology is involved in the carbon cycle.”
  • Arjun Puri ’25 produced an awesome stop-animation video about enzymes in cellular respiration. “Before this project,” he shared, “I had never made a stop-motion video. I thought it would be an interesting challenge and I enjoyed developing a new skill along the way. I also definitely appreciated being able to choose the specific topic and choice of project. I think that this allowed me to learn more than I might have otherwise because I was able to choose a specific area of cellular respiration I was interested in and had the opportunity to learn more about it.”
  • Madison Sineff ’24 designed an amazing match.com-inspired website about enzymes (since the right catalyst needs to bond with the right substrate, of course!). “I came up with my idea after I did the research which was super helpful since I based my product on the research I did. For example, when I was researching enzymes in respiration, I realized how many different types there were so I knew I wanted my project to focus on comparing and contrasting the different types, and this was how I came up with something resembling a social media platform where enzymes would be given different profiles. To make the website, I used Google Sites which I had never used before.” When reflecting on the project, she also shared that she learned how to conduct her own research at her own pace.
  • Saivi Gadi ’25 and Bridgett Wang ’24 made an outstanding animation sketch on the evolution of aerobic respiration. Saivi shared, “I thought this project really helped me to make more connections because we not only had to research, but we also had to find a way to creatively display our ideas. We came up with the animation sketch idea because we could use simple drawings to explain a complex topic. We hoped that this would help our classmates get a visual representation of our topic.

Tourais was thrilled with the way students embraced the opportunity to stretch their talents and skills for the creative purposes of this project. “I’ve come to find that so many students sought out and figured out first-time use of tools new to them for their final product, whether it was trying animation software like Loom or Animaker, audio and video-editing software like Premier or WeVideo, computer programming platforms like C++ or Scratch, or 3D printing for the first time. The students didn’t fear the unfamiliar,” she said.

Understanding cellular respiration has never been more fun! Way to go, Upper School scientists!