How to Explain Cellular Respiration to Children

Cellular respiration is a fairly complicated occurrence within living things. The result of this occurrence is the conversion of energy-rich molecules into energy that sustains life and all of life's processes. While there are many technical details involved in cellular respiration, if you keep it simple and basic, you will be able to explain it successfully to children.

Things You'll Need

• Medical encyclopedia
• Worksheets
• Prizes

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Instructions

• 1

  Perform an online search to learn as much as you can about cellular respiration before attempting to explain it to children. A possible search: "What is cellular respiration?" Consult any online medical encyclopedias you find. You can also ask your health care provider for a simple definition for cellular respiration.

• 2

  Conduct a separate search to ensure you understand the key concepts involved in cellular respiration. Some examples of key concepts include glycolysis, pyruvate, anaerobic respiration and aerobic respiration. Make sure you completely understand their meanings and their roles in cellular respiration. You need an in-depth understanding of a subject before you can break it down into simple terms for children.

• 3

  Draw pictures of these processes to explain them better to children. For example, instead of just explaining that the process of glycolysis involves the conversion of one glucose molecule into two pyruvate molecules, draw a picture of it. Don't worry about the molecules looking accurate in the drawing. The important thing is that the children understand the process.

• 4

  Give the children a worksheet to fill out during your presentation. Make sure the questions are clear. If the children write down answers to questions as they learn about cellular respiration, they're more likely to understand the process and retain the information they learned. Have smaller children draw pictures like the ones you show them of the various processes.

• 5

  Play a game with the children after you explain cellular respiration. The game should incorporate what they just learned about the process. Be sure before you begin to let them know there will be a game after the presentation. This will give them motivation to pay attention as you explain. Divide the children into small groups or teams and have small prizes ready for the winning team.