GLUCOSE (Plants make it so you can shake it, you've got to burn it to boogie)
by Arthur W. Siebens, Ph.D., Copyright 1995

You've heard of glucose, it's in your blood.
If you've got diabetes, you've got too much.
Let me tell you where it comes from (I'll keep it clean)
You can't make it yourself, cause you ain't green.
Plants make it so you can shake it,
You've got to burn it to boogie.

What this is all about, is energy,
It's stored in chemical bonds, like in ATP.
Now, "photo" means light, "synthesis" means make.
It's 'cause of photosynthesis that you can shake.
Take CO2 and water, and a little light,
That chloroplast will make glucose, it's out of sight.

Now photosynthesis takes two steps, can't do it in one.
And you start with the energy from the sun, Son-or Daughter.
In the light reaction (light -dependent reaction), you take the energy,
Store it in the bonds of ATP.
In the dark reaction (light -independent reaction), the energy's transferred,
From ATP to glucose, for you to burn.
Plants make it so you can shake it,
You've got to burn it to boogie.

Now plants can burn glucose, and so can you,
To get energy and water, and CO2.
But you've got to burn it slowly, so you won't fry,
It's called respiration--it keeps you alive.
You've got whole body respiration,
That's what breathing's about.
Oxygen comes in, CO2 goes out.
But respiration takes place, in nearly every cell,
In the mitochondrion, that mighty organelle.
The energy in glucose has to be transferred,
Back to ATP, which the cell prefers.
Then when you want to move your muscles, go where you please,
You break the ATP, the energy's released.

So that's how it is, that's how it's done.
The energy you use in muscles, comes from the sun, Son-or Daughter.
Through photosynthesis, the energy is stored.
In the glucose you eat, that's what you're eatin' for.
In respiration, you break the glucose down,
To get the energy, to move your bod' around.
And in the cycle of making glucose and breaking it down,
CO2 and water, go 'round and 'round.

So when you're feeling hungry, or want to move,
Glucose is the secret, keeps you in the groove.
Plants make it so you can shake it,
You've got to burn it to boogie.