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Yes. This guide is linked to the Aerobic and anaerobic respiration: keeping warm. topic in the AQA GCSE specification.

AQA · GCSE · Combined Science

Course version: 8464 · Version from Sept 2018

Aerobic and anaerobic respiration: keeping warm.

Keeping warm is a direct consequence of aerobic respiration because the reactions are exothermic and transfer energy to the environment.

2 key terms

Study notes

From the checked teaching notes for this specification point.

The idea

Keeping warm is a direct consequence of aerobic respiration because the reactions are exothermic and transfer energy to the environment. In mammals and birds, this transferred energy helps maintain a constant core body temperature despite a cooler environment. The rate of aerobic respiration in muscle tissues can be adjusted to increase heat production when the body cools. This is why shivering, which involves rapid muscle contraction, raises the rate of respiration and generates more warmth.

What earns the marks

Aerobic respiration is an exothermic reaction that transfers energy to the environment, some of which is used to keep the body warm.
Mammals and birds maintain a stable core body temperature by using the energy transferred from respiration.
Shivering involves rapid muscle contraction, which requires more energy and therefore raises the rate of aerobic respiration.
An increased rate of aerobic respiration during shivering results in more energy being transferred to the body as heat.
Keeping warm is an example of how the energy transferred by respiration supports homeostasis, not just movement or growth.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

Thinking that respiration only produces energy for movement.
Put it right: Respiration is an exothermic reaction that also transfers energy used for keeping warm.
Confusing breathing with respiration.
Put it right: Breathing is ventilation of the lungs, whereas respiration is the cellular process that transfers energy from glucose.
Assuming that all energy from glucose becomes heat.
Put it right: Some energy is used for useful processes such as muscle contraction, and the rest is transferred to the surroundings as heat.

Exam tips

Link keeping warm explicitly to the aerobic respiration equation and to the idea of energy transfer, not just to shivering.
Use the phrase 'rate of respiration' when explaining how heat production changes, and state the direction of the change.
When asked to explain shivering, give a cause-and-effect chain: cooling detected, shivering triggered, respiration rate increases, more energy transferred as heat.

Try the lesson

The start of the Aerobic and anaerobic respiration: keeping warm. lesson, made from checked teaching notes for this specification point.

Have a go first

Which process in the body releases energy from glucose to help keep the body warm?

Tip: press 1 to 4 to choose

See it

A top-down flowchart with six boxes connected by arrows. The first box says 'Body cools' and points to 'Shivering triggered'. That points to 'Rapid muscle contraction', which points to 'Rate of aerobic respiration increases'. That points to 'More energy transferred as heat', which finally points to 'Helps maintain constant core body temperature'. — It shows the cause-and-effect chain from the body cooling through shivering and a raised rate of aerobic respiration to more heat being transferred to help keep the body warm.

Put it in order

Put these steps in the order they happen.

1. Shivering triggered
2. Rapid muscle contraction
3. Rate of aerobic respiration increases
4. More energy transferred as heat
5. Helps maintain constant core body temperature
6. Body cools

Key words

Say what each word means before you turn the card.

Aerobic respiration

Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.

Shivering

Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.

See every definition

Aerobic respiration: An exothermic reaction that transfers energy to the environment, some of which is used to keep the body warm.
Shivering: Involves rapid muscle contraction, which requires more energy and therefore raises the rate of aerobic respiration.

Label the diagram

Some boxes have lost their names. Pick the right name for each number.

The diagram again, with 3 boxes numbered instead of named. A top-down flowchart with six boxes connected by arrows. The first box says 'Body cools' and points to 'Shivering triggered'. That points to 'Rapid muscle contraction', which points to 'Rate of aerobic respiration increases'. That points to 'More energy transferred as heat', which finally points to 'Helps maintain constant core body temperature'.

1Box 1
2Box 2
3Box 3

0 of 3 labelled

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