Teaching Aerobic Cell Respiration Using the 5 es (Inquiry & INVESTIGATION‪)‬

Ask any group of high school biology teachers what topics their students find most difficult to comprehend and chances are that cell respiration will be among those mentioned. Such a situation presents quite a challenge to biology teachers since national science standards consistently cite information involving cell respiration among the key topics to be covered in high school biology courses. Knowledge of cell structure and the chemical reactions within the cell that provide a flow of energy are listed in Content Standard C of the National Science Education Standards (1996). There are many reasons why students find cell respiration difficult to understand. The abstract nature of the processes, the multitude of details, and a new technical vocabulary make the topic challenging to even the most diligent students. Over the years, I have tried many different approaches to teaching cell respiration, with varying degrees of success. Generally, these approaches involved some combination of lecture, demonstration, and laboratory activity; however the end results were always the same--mediocre test scores and a lack of enthusiasm among the students. Most recently, however, have adopted the 5E model of instruction and I have found it to be quite effective.