General

Biology 1 12
Earth Science – Grade 12
Quarter 2 – Module 7: Importance of Chlorophyll and Other Pigments
First Edition, 2020

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 General
Biology 1
12
Quarter 2
Self-Learning Module 7
Importance of Chlorophyll and Other
Pigments
Introductory Message
For the facilitator:

Welcome to the General Biology 1 Self-Learning Module 7 on Importance of

Chlorophyll and Other Pigments

This Self-Learning Module was collaboratively designed, developed and

reviewed by educators from the Schools Division Office of Pasig City headed by its
Officer-in-Charge Schools Division Superintendent, Ma. Evalou Concepcion A.
Agustin, in partnership with the City Government of Pasig through its mayor,
Honorable Victor Ma. Regis N. Sotto. The writers utilized the standards set by the K
to 12 Curriculum using the Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELC) in
developing this instructional resource.

This learning material hopes to engage the learners in guided and independent
learning activities at their own pace and time. Further, this also aims to help learners
acquire the needed 21st century skills especially the 5 Cs, namely: Communication,
Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Character while taking into
consideration their needs and circumstances.

In addition to the material in the main text, you will also see this box in the
body of the module:

Notes to the Teacher

This contains helpful tips or strategies that
will help you in guiding the learners.

As a facilitator you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this
module. You also need to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing them to
manage their own learning. Moreover, you are expected to encourage and assist the
learners as they do the tasks included in the module.
 For the Learner:

Welcome to the General Biology 1 Self-Learning Module 7 on Importance of

Chlorophyll and Other Pigments

This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful
opportunities for guided and independent learning at your own pace and time. You
will be enabled to process the contents of the learning material while being an active
learner.

This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:

Expectations - This points to the set of knowledge and skills

that you will learn after completing the module.

Pretest - This measures your prior knowledge about the lesson

at hand.

Recap - This part of the module provides a review of concepts

and skills that you already know about a previous lesson.

Lesson - This section discusses the topic in the module.

Activities - This is a set of activities that you need to perform.

Wrap-Up - This section summarizes the concepts and

application of the lesson.

Valuing - This part integrates a desirable moral value in the

lesson.

Posttest – This measures how much you have learned from the
entire module.
 EXPECTATIONS

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Explain the importance of chlorophyll and other pigments

2. Describe the role of other pigments in the process of photosynthesis
3. Appreciate that chlorophyll and other photosynthetic pigments plays an
important role in establishing color via certain wavelength absorption.

PRETEST

Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer.

_________1. Chlorophylls are greenish pigments which contain a porphyrin ring.
What purpose is set by this structure?
A. A stable molecule from which electrons are free to migrate.
B. An unstable molecule with a potential of balancing electrons
C. It is used by chlorophyll to capture energy during dark reactions
D. It selectively captures energy from sunlight that will be stored for
further usage.

_________2. Which chlorophyll molecule makes photosynthesis possible, by passing

its energized electrons on to molecules which will manufacture
sugars?
A. chlorophyll a
B. chlorophyll b
C. chlorophyll c
D. chlorophyll d
E.
_________3. Which of the following statements dos NOT describe a carotenoid as a
pigment?
A. They are also called accessory pigments.

B. It is water-soluble and must be attached to membranes within the

cell.
C. It is composed of two small six-carbon rings connected by a "chain"
of carbon atoms.
D. Carotenoids cannot transfer sunlight energy directly to the
photosynthetic pathway, but must pass their absorbed energy to
chlorophyll.
_________4. Which water-soluble pigment gives a reddish color appearance which
gives the red algae their common name?
A. carotene
B. phycocyanin
C. phycoerythrin
D. fucoxanthin

_________5. Pigments have extensive use in cancer research, for identifying tumor
cells. When the solution is sprayed as a stream of fine droplets past a
laser and computer sensor, a machine can identify whether the cells in
the droplets have been identified by the antibodies. Which of the
following sentences supports this claim?
A. The light produced by fluorescence may be used as chemical "tags"
B. The light produced by fluorescence may categorize illnesses
C. Pigments are utilized to absorb light energy
D. Pigments are used as antibodies.

RECAP

In the previous module, we studied that living things constantly require free
energy to move, grow, repair and reproduce. Thus, cells need a constant, convenient
source of free energy, supplied by ATP, which may also be aided by coupled reactions.
In the illustration given below, describe how coupled reactions utilize ATP as a
convenient source of free energy.

Activity 6.1. Describe how coupled reactions utilize ATP as a convenient source of
free energy.

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When light (and all electromagnetic energy) interacts with matter, the energy can be
reflected or absorbed. Substances called pigments absorb certain light wavelengths
and reflect others. So, what does it mean for something to be green, or blue, or
yellow? Because we’re dealing with photosynthesis, which is carried out by green
plants, let’s focus on green. A green object is perceived as green because it has
pigments that reflect green light (which bounces off the pigmented object into our
eyes) and absorbs other wavelengths of light. That means that the green leaves of
plants are reflecting away green light, and absorbing other wavelengths, such as blue
and red.

LESSON

Chlorophyll: the key photosynthetic pigment

In chloroplasts, the primary photosynthetic pigment is chlorophyll.

Chlorophyll molecules have a central magnesium atom (at “3”), essential for the
process of converting light energy into electrical energy. The magnesium atom is
embedded within a nitrogenous porphyrin ring (“2”). A long hydrocarbon chain
anchors chlorophyll in the thylakoid membrane.

Light and photosynthetic pigments

If you've ever stayed out too long in the sun and gotten a sunburn, you're
probably well aware of the sun's immense energy. Unfortunately, the human body
can't make much use of solar energy, aside from producing a little Vitamin D (a
vitamin synthesized in the skin in the presence of sunlight).

Plants, on the other hand, are experts at capturing light energy and using it
to make sugars through a process called photosynthesis. This process begins with
the absorption of light by specialized organic molecules, called pigments, that are
found in the chloroplasts of plant cells. Here, we’ll consider light as a form of energy,
and we'll also see how pigments – such as the chlorophylls that make plants green –
absorb that energy.

Figure 6.1 Image modified from "Electromagnetic spectrum," by Inductiveload (CC BY-SA 3.0), and "EM spectrum," by Philip Ronan (CC BY-SA
3.0). The modified image is licensed under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license
 The visible spectrum is the only part of the electromagnetic spectrum that can
be seen by the human eye. It includes electromagnetic radiation whose wavelength
is between about 400 nm and 700 nm. Visible light from the sun appears white, but
it’s actually made up of multiple wavelengths (colors) of light. You can see these
different colors when white light passes through a prism: because the different
wavelengths of light are bent at different angles as they pass through the prism, they
spread out and form what we see as a rainbow. Red light has the longest wavelength
and the least energy, while violet light has the shortest wavelength and the most
energy.
Although light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation act as waves
under many conditions, they can behave as particles under others. Each particle of
electromagnetic radiation, called a photon, has certain amount of energy. Types of
radiation with short wavelengths have high-energy photons, whereas types of
radiation with long wavelengths have low-energy photons.
What does it mean for a pigment to absorb light?
When a pigment absorbs a photon of light, it becomes excited, meaning that it has
extra energy and is no longer in its normal, or ground, state. At a subatomic level,
excitation is when an electron is bumped into a higher-energy orbital that lies further
from the nucleus.
Only a photon with just the right amount of energy to bump an electron between
orbitals can excite a pigment. In fact, this is why different pigments absorb different
wavelengths of light: the "energy gaps" between the orbitals are different in each
pigment, meaning that photons of different wavelengths are needed in each case to
provide an energy boost that matches the gap.

Figure 6.2 : Light absorption of pigment: Source : Image modified from "Bis2A 06.3 Photophosphorylation: the light reactions of photosynthesis:
Figures 7 and 8," by Mitch Singer (CC BY 4.0).

Absorption and Action Spectra

Chlorophyll’s properties as a pigment can be quantified through its . In a
laboratory setting, you can take isolated chlorophyll, and, using a device like a
spectrophotometer, you can measure which wavelengths of light chlorophyll best
absorbs. Why is this important? Because the wavelengths of light that a pigment
absorbs can be harvested to perform some work. In the case of photosynthesis, the
work is creating an electrical current, which can be used to transform lower energy
molecules into higher energy molecules.

The X-axis shows the wavelength of light shining on the chlorophyll, and it ranges
from short wavelength violet light at 400 nm (“nm” = nanometer, or 1 billionth of a
meter) on the far left to 760 nm red light on the far right. The Y-axis is the percentage
of absorption of light energy.

The part of the line bracketed by “b” shows how in the green and yellow part of the
spectrum chlorophyll a absorbs hardly any light. By contrast, the highest point of
the line (“a”) is where most light energy is absorbed (blue light). A second peak shows
up in the red part of the spectrum at “c.”

The graph below adds two additional photosynthetic pigments: Chlorophyll b and
carotenoids. Carotenoids are accessory pigments: they help absorb light energy
during photosynthesis, and they protect the photosynthetic pigments (in much the
same way that the pigment melanin protects DNA in our skin cells from damage from
ultraviolet radiation).

Photosynthetic organisms do not rely on a single pigment to absorb light, but

instead benefit from the combined action of many. These photosynthetic pigments
are grouped into photosystems that absorb and funnel light energy. By grouping
pigments that have individualised absorption spectra together, the cell maximises its
light absorption. When a pigment is energised by light, it releases high energy
electrons (ionisation). Antenna pigments transfer their energised electrons to a
central reaction centre. From the reaction centre, electrons are passed on to an
acceptor molecule in an electron transport chain to synthesise ATP. The presence of
accessory pigments explains why not all leaves are green.

While chlorophyll possesses a green colouration, other pigments (e.g.

anthocyanins) may produce different colours
Deciduous trees change colour when leaves stop producing chlorophyll in winter
when levels of available light are low.

ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITY 6.2. Make a study of the following pigments and complete the table
given below by providing information about the sources and possible
functions of the pigments.
Pigment Unifying Cell Source Potential
Color/s component benefits
Chlorophyll
Carotenoids
Lutein and
Lycopene
Phenolics
Anthocyanin
Xanthophyll
Betalain

ACTIVITY 6.3. Plant Pigment Chromatography

Objective: To explore what pigments exist in leaves and their importance.
Materials: paper filters, paper towels, filter paper or chromatography paper cut to 2
cm wide by 15 cm long, felt-tipped pens, plastic containers (8-10 oz. cups), water at
room temperature, hot water from faucet , 70% isopropyl alcohol, pencils, popsicle
sticks, or drinking straws, scissors, ruler, tape, Green leaves, Leaves that have
changed color from green, plastic wrap, Shallow pan or tray

Prerequisites: ADULT SUPERVISION IS REQUIRED when using isopropyl alcohol.

Please read all instructions completely before starting. Observe all safety
precautions.
Procedure:
1. Collect 2-3 large fresh green leaves. Note location of plant and if you know it, also
the plant genus. Tear or cut up the green leaves into as small as possible pieces.
Place the leaf fragments in a glass or plastic container. Label the container with a
number or name of leaf if known and location of the plant.
2. Add enough rubbing alcohol to cover the leaf fragments. Using a plastic spoon,
carefully but vigorously stir the leaves in the alcohol (leaves can also be ground with
a mortar and pestle if available).
Safety Note: Isopropyl rubbing alcohol can be harmful if mishandled or misused.
Read and carefully follow all warnings on the alcohol bottle.
3. Cover the container very loosely with lids or plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Place
the containers carefully into a shallow tray containing 1 inch of hot tap water.
Safety Note: Hot water above 66˚ C can quickly cause severe burns.
4. Keep the jars/containers in the tray of water for at least a half-hour, longer if
needed, until the alcohol has become colored (the darker the better). Twirl each jar
gently about every five minutes. Replace the hot water in the water tray if it cools off.
Covered containers or jars may be kept overnight and contents used for
chromatography afterwards.
5. Cut a long thin strip (2 cm wide by 15 cm) of coffee filter paper or chromatography
paper for each of the containers and label it with a leaf name or code. Remove
containers from the water tray and uncover. Tape a strip of filter paper or
chromatography paper to a pencil. Lay the pencil across the top of each glass/plastic
container. Adjust the length of the filter paper by rotating the pencil so that the end
of the paper strip just touches the alcohol. The alcohol will travel up the paper,
bringing the colors with it.
6. After 30-90 minutes (or longer) or after alcohol has traveled three quarters of the
way up the strip, the the colors will travel different distances up the paper. Different
shades of green, and possibly some yellow, orange or red, depending on the type of
leaf, may be seen on the chromatogram. Remove the paper strip and put on top of a
paper towel to dry, then tape to a piece of plain white paper.
7. Examine the strips with a hand lens. Measure the distance(s) that the color(s)
has/have traveled up the strip of paper.

GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1. What happened when the alcohol/groundup-leaves mixture traveled up the

filter paper?
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2. Infer what pigment molecules might be present in the leaves based on the
colors on the strip.
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3. What accessory pigments were present in the leaves?

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 4. What do you think are the importance of these pigments?

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WRAP-UP

ACTIVITY 6.4. The graph below shows an absorption spectra of three major
pigments in photosynthesis: chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids, together with
the action spectrum of photosynthesis. Suggest an analysis showing the
degree to which the pigment will be able to absorb energy.

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ACTIVITY 6.5. Complete the concept map based on your understanding

about the pigments and their importance.

BIOLOGICAL
PIGMENTS

EXAMPLES SOURCE/S BENEFITS

 VALUING

Life would be nothing without plants. Plants would be nothing without colors.
Green plants having chlorophyll have a vital role in photosynthesis, a process
necessary for life on Earth. As an environmentalist and a scientist, how would you
be able to promote sustainable development in terms of plant species protection
within your community?

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POSTTEST

Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer.

_________1. How do chlorophyll – a and accessory pigments differ?
A. Pigments are colors
B. Pigments are forms of chlorophyll used in the process of photosynthesis
C. Pigments are chemical compounds that reflect particular wavelengths
of light, and so appear that color in our eyes.
D. Pigments are chemical compounds that absorb particular wavelengths
of light, and so appear that color in our eyes.

_________2. Electrons that are excited to a higher energy level may be transferred to
an electron acceptor or may return to a ground state. If the latter occurs,
energy will be released in a process known as:
A. fluorescence
B. photoelectron hydrolysis
C. photoelectron degradation
D. photoelectron deconfiguration

_________3. Chlorophyll and accessory photosynthetic pigments are associated with

the:
A. stroma
B. stroma and grana
C. thylakoid membranes
D. light reaction centers of the stroma lamellae
_________4. Chlorophyll molecules are attached to thylakoid membranes by:
A. a magnesium ion
B. the methyl group
C. a hydroxide group
D. the porphyrin ring

_________5. Chlorophyll absorbs most light in which colors of the visible range?
A. Blue and red
B. Green and red
C. Violet and red
D. Violet and green

KEY TO CORRECTION
REFERENCES
Batista, Jeremy, Cena Christianilly. May 29, 2019. https://www.STUDY.com/simple-science-
chloroplast-structure-function-examples

Introduction to Plants Lesson Accessed July 14, 2020.

https://www.bu.edu/gk12/xiaojuan/Lessons/chloroplast.html.

Hoefnagels, Marielle. General Biology. McGraw-Hill Education. Abiva Publishing House,Inc. 2016.

Learning, Lumen. “Anatomy and Physiology I.” Lumen. Accessed July 7, 2020.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/austincc-ap1/chapter/botany

Miller, Stephen A. Zoology. McGraw-Hill. New York. 2010.

Starr, Cecie. Evers, Christine. and Lisa. Starr. Biology: Today and Tomorrow Biology for Non Science
Majors. Cengage Learning. 2010
Study.com. Accessed July 14, 2020. https://study.com/academy/practice/quiz-worksheet-
characteristics-of-chloroplast.html.
Posts, Related, and About The Author sana. “OBJECTIVE FOR Diffusion. Osmosis Absorption.
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2020. https://biologyboom.com/objective-for-diffusion-osmosis-absorption-translocation-
transpiration/.
https://www.britannica.com/science/chloroplast
Sciencing.com. Accessed July 14, 2020. https://sciencing.com/academy/practice/quiz-worksheet-
four stages of cellular respiration.html.
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importance of pigments in photosynthesis.html.