Levels of Organization Image Map

What are mitochondria? and What do they do?

Mitochondria are the energy factories of the cells. Their job is to "burn" the fuel (which we get from food) and capture some of the energy in high
-energy chemical bonds that can be used later for various cell functions. See the diagram below. 

Process of Burning Energy Diagram

The diagram shows that sugars (glucose) are burned in two ways. Glucose, a sugar with 6 carbon atoms gets broken down to a 3-carbon molecule (pyruvic acid) in glycolysis.  This releases a little energy, but if oxygen is present, the pyruvic acid can then be burned to release a great deal of energy, with carbon dioxide and water being produced as waste products. In the presence of oxygen, the energy is extracted in a cycle of reactions wherein the first molecule in the cycle gets re-built at the end of the cycle. We call this the "Krebs' cycle."


 

Previous PageNext Page

 


Introduction | Why It Matters | How We Find Out | What We Know | Story Time
Common Hazards | Activities | Self-Study Game | Teachers Pages | Standards (TEKS)


Peer Curriculum | Cell Biology Home Page | Communication Exercises
Copyright © 2001-2003
Web Site Privacy Statement