“Big-Picture” Worksheets To Help Students Learn and Understand the Pentose Phosphate Pathway and the Calvin Cycle

摘要

Two worksheets designed to help biochemistry instructors teach the pentose phosphate pathway and the Calvin cycle are presented. The worksheets avoid excessive detail, but portray the pathways in such a manner that the fates of all molecules involved are depicted; this format allows students to follow the interconversions without having to wonder where a particular intermediate originated or what final compound it is destined to become. When combined with knowledge of the structures of some basic monosaccharides and of key enzymatic steps (e.g., transketolase and transaldolase), the use of these worksheets can help students learn and understand the pathways rather than superficially memorize them.