A Conversation with Photo BeaN

Epilogue:

If you haven't read least week's blog "Exploding Chloroplasts", read that first.  This is a conversation with Josh, the younger brother in that story and Photo-BeaN, one of the BioBeaNs who led Josh and Justin on their adventure.  This conversation takes place after "Exploding Chloroplasts".

A Conversation with Photo-BeaN

     As Josh sat doing his homework, he felt like giving up.  After his adventure with the BioBeaNs, he aced his school biology test on photosynthesis.  But now they were learning about cellular respiration and it was just too hard.  Josh put his head on the desk, contemplating how bad it would be if he just gave up.  Suddenly he felt a familiar "flick" on the back of his head and heard a small voice shouting "Snap out of it!"
     Josh lifted his head and asked,  "Hey, Photo-BeaN,  can you jump in my ear and zap in the info about respiration into my brain?"
     Photo-BeaN laughed and said, "No, sorry, there's no crisis now and if I zapped all my knowledge of everything into you, you'd become like me, and the world needs variety."
     "What does that mean?  It would be wonderful if everyone was as smart as you," Josh replied.
     "Josh, why do you think we needed you and your brother?" asked Photo-BeaN.
     "You probably don't," Josh sighed then asked,"Why  didn't you BeaNs just jump in and fix the chloroplasts yourself since you know everything."
     "Josh," Photo-BeaN replied, "there's different ways to be smart.  BioBeaNs have a lot of information; but, sometimes we become paralyzed with what to do because we see too many choices.  You Josh, you can see the path that needs to be taken much more clearly than I."
     "So you actually needed me?" Josh was feeling better.
     "Yes," Photo-BeaN acknowledged, "and I still need you to be your best and most creative, so you have to keep learning.  You learned a lot about photosynthesis , not just because we put the information in your head.  We didn't tell you what to do, you figured that out.  How did you do that Josh?" Photo-BeaN asked.

     Josh closed his eyes and remembered...

         "I saw the lemonade-berry plant, the leaves, then I focused in and magnified the image until I saw the plant cells and chloroplasts.  I felt wavelike particles of light hitting the leaf, entering the chloroplasts and the process of photosynthesis hummed like a song in my mind.  Then, I saw the broken chloroplasts.  I was visualizing this in my mind and could feel the tear.  I felt myself touching the thylakoid membrane and the stroma (fluid) seeping out of the chloroplasts.  The chemical energy produced in the thylakoid had no where to go, because the Calvin cycle took place in the fluid called stroma.  I knew no glucose was being produced and if this problem was not contained from spreading to other plants, our planet would die..." Josh opened his eyes.
     "Oh Josh, then you deployed us to fix the tear and we contained it.  Josh, you are remarkable!" Photo-BeaN beamed.
     Josh began to believe in himself.  He realized that information was important, but he also knew creativity was needed to know what to do with all that knowledge.  He felt his creativity soaring.
      He went back to his studies.  Respiration could be fascinating too, since it was the process that went hand in hand with photosynthesis.  Photosynthesis needs respiration, respiration needs photosynthesis...one process is not better than the other.  We need both for life on earth to exist.  Maybe he would be needed someday to help with cellular respiration in the cell.  His creativity and imagination went into high gear!

BeaNspiration:  Keep wondering about the world!

prefixes
epi - upon, over
photo - light
chloro- green
syn- with, together, fusion