CD 3-1
Narrator: Listen to a professor leading a class discussion in a communication science class. Professor: Okay, folks. We contrasted cultures in terms of communication patterns in last week's class. The gist of it is: Communication in high-context cultures depends heavily on the context, or nonverbal aspects of communication. Much information to be exchanged is implicit as it is among a close-knit family. On the other hand, low-context cultures depend more on explicit, verbally expressed communication. A highly literate, well read culture like academia is considered a low-context culture, as it relies heavily on information communicated explicitly by words. We've seen that these differences in communication styles can lead to major misunderstandings. Today, we'll talk about the practical application of this contrast in conducting research. At first, let's look at some demographic statistics. The U.S. population more than tripled during the 20th century. It's now estimated to be about 288 million. And most of the increase is credited to minority sectors. Census figures of the year 2000 show that the 31 percent of the population is comprised of minority residents. The official census number indicate the presence of more than 36 million blacks (about 13% of the population), 41.3 million Hispanics (about 14%), 11.9 million Asians (about 4%), and 4 million American Indians (about 1.5%). Whites still make up more than 69% of the total U.S. population, but that percentage is declining: as you can see, the figure was 75 percent in 1990. The Hispanics and the Asian populations, in particular, have been increasing very rapidly. This fact substantiates our claim that possessing cross-cultural communication skills is becoming more and more critical in all sorts of research. When we take up any kind of study involving human subjects, first of all, we have to be prepared to know the people in the study groups in terms of their cultural and socio-economic background. Your research should identify the cultural groups of your subjects because even among immigrant groups from the same country, there are significant cultural variations resulting from differences in education, degree of assimilation, and, um, socioeconomic status. Second, we have to be aware of the sensitive nature of this type of research and try to avoid even the appearance of stereotyping and try to reach out to all people individually. Well, successful cross-cultural communication begins with knowledge, as they say. This high- and low- context comparison gives us a handle on communicating across cultural boundaries. Note that hidden cultures of poverty and illiteracy also exist within communities and this issue must be addressed when conducting interviews and meetings. Literacy is the big problem. Uh, results of the government's National Adult Literacy Survey show that 46 to 51% of adults in this country performed at the borderline level of functional literacy. This amounts to a whopping 90 million people! So, written communication may not be the best approach when dealing with a community with a high rate of illiteracy. This presents a problem for communicating detailed, highly technical information. Consequently, when we design our research, we'll have to take both economics and education into consideration. In any case, every effort must be made to reach these segments of the communities to make our study population a well-represented one. Well, okay, then, let's go over our Communication Watch List here. You're supposed to read the whole list and summarize it. This should make us more aware of and responsive to situations arising from communication glitches and impasses. Item No.1 is Nonverbal communication. Bob, can you explain this one to the class? Male student 1: Uh, nonverbal communication is carried out though intangibles. I mean, your body language, status, relationships, use of silence and tone, and stuff like that -- factors communicating meaning other than spoken words. Professor: Right. Studies show that more than 60% of communication is nonverbal and will be remembered long after your actual words. Many cultures determine the seriousness of your message not by your words, but by your actions and emotions during your delivery. Okay, how about second in the list -- eye contact? Male student 1: Well, most of us were taught to look at a person while we're talking with and listening to him. But, um, in some cultures, looking down is considered a sign of respect and direct eye contact is regarded as confrontational. American tend to think you are untrustworthy if you don't look them in the eye, though. Professor: Okay. There's a poser. Item 3 -- Smiling. How can it be a problem? Male student: Can I take that one? Professor: Sure, go ahead. Male student: Well, what we have here is sort of a false-positive problem, so to speak. Uh, I mean, when you don't see any smiling faces among your subjects, it may not necessarily mean you failed to communicate with them. Acceptance of you, or, um, empathy toward you may be hidden behind that straight face. People from different cultures express emotions and stuff in ways that are different and so, uh, unfamiliar to us. It can mean that the guy is just being polite to you, and he may not either agree with you or understand you. Male student 1: Yeah, I noticed that, even here in the States, people up north don't smile as much as we do around here. Professor: Now that you mentioned it, that's true, isn't it? Ha! Well, well. Okay, next? Male student 2: Next item is "Touching." In many cultures, it's considered improper to touch a stranger. In a study cited here, a group of researchers counted casual touches during conversations in outdoor cafes in different counties. A total of 160 touches per hour were recorded in San Juan, Puerto Rico, two per hour in Florida, and zero in London. This tells you when in doubt, do not touch, other than maybe a formal handshake. Uh, also, don't touch with the left hand, because in some cultures that is considered taboo. Professor: Well. Okay, next? Female student: Item 5 is "space." Which means, interpersonal space. In the United States, many people stand an arm's length from each other, without even realizing doing it. It's just sort of a reflex. In some Asian cultures, people stand even farther apart. And in some Hispanic or Latino cultures, people are comfortable standing closer to each other than arm's length. As always, you should observe the behaviors of the group and follow their lead. Professor: All right. So far so good! The last one on the list is about... ? Female student: It's about perception of time. Different cultures have different concepts of punctuality. When some people agree to meet at a certain time, 10:00 for example, they see 10:00 as a discrete point in time when the meeting is scheduled to begin, and anyone who arrives after 10:00 is considered late. They are kind of stickler for time. Other cultures see the meeting time as a diffused point, and anyone who arrives between 10:00 and, say, 10:30 is considered punctual. Mind you, this doesn't give you license to be late. You must be on time, as always, but you must also be prepared to be delayed. Professor: Excellent! You guys have done a good job of summing up the communication tip list. Um, I can add a thing or two from my own experience in the field here. First of all, we should avoid humor and jokes. American humor often depends on wordplays that don't translate well and can unnecessarily confuse your listeners. Rely always on a pleasant facial expression, instead. On the technical front, we should always use visual aids wherever and whenever possible. A picture really is worth a thousand words; the universal language of visuals can make your job much easier. As I said last week, we must recognize our own culturally bounded assumptions and perceptive. So, try to communicate respect and to demonstrate flexibility, and, most of all, try not to judge.
CD 3-14
Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in a physics class. Professor: Looking back on things now, it seems so simple, but it must have been hard to swallow the notion that motion is made up of two or more components in different directions. Back then it was by no means an easy concept even for scientists to accept. Imagine that! Obviously, dealing with this "combination of forces", many scientists experienced a mental block big time. So when Copernicus first suggested that the earth moved around the sun, some of the most vehement objections came from those scientists. Their counter-argument to his was, um, if the earth rotated on its axis and moved through space revolving around the sun, it surely would be impossible for anything movable to remain fixed to the earth's surface. Jeez, if one leaped up in the air he would come down many yards away, since the earth beneath him would have moeved while he was in the air, you know.... Well, likewise, they had trouble believing that the moon was affected by the same force as the proverbial apple, simply because if the same force applied to both, the same acceleration would affect both and both should fall. Well, Galileo showed this wasn't so by pointing out that an object dropped from the top of the mast of a moving ship feel to a point at the base of the mast. In other words, the falling object doesn't fall in the water even though, while moving downward, it must also have participated in the ship's horizontal motion. Actually, Galileo did not try this himself, but he proposed it as what is today called a "thought experiment." Even though it was proposed only in thought, it was utterly convincing. You see, ships had sailed the sea for thousands of years, and objects must have been dropped from mast-tops during all those years, yet no seaman had ever reported that the ship had moved out from under the falling object. Never. Then, why did some scholars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries feel so sure that objects could not possess two different motions simultaneously? Apparently it was because they still possessed the Greek habit of reasoning. What this means is that they reasoned from what seemed valid basic assumptions and did not always feel it necessary to check their conclusions against the real universe. That's why I feel hesitant to call them scientists and rather refer to them as scholars. For example, the scholars of the sixteenth century reasoned that a projectile fired from a cannon was potentially subject to motions resulting from two causes -- first, the impulse given it by the cannon, and secondly, its "natura motion" toward the ground. Assuming that an object could not possess two motions simultaneously, one motion would be completed before the second began. In other words, they deduced that the cannonball would travel in a straight line in whatever direction the cannon pointed, until the impulse of the explosion was used up and it would then at once fall downward in a straight line. Galileo, on the other hand, argued that the projectile traveled onward in the direction in which it left the cannon's mouth. ...um, that is to say, Galileo abandoned Aristotelian notions about motion and was instead taking a totally new approach to the problem. In one experiement he did conduct, Galileo demonstrated, by dropping bodies of different weights from the top of the famous Leaning Tower, tha the speed of fall of a heavy object is not proportional to its weight, as Aristotle had claimed. But his attacks on Aristotole made him unpopular with his colleagues, and in 1592 his contract as chair of mathematics at the University of Pisa was not renewed. What a drag! This seems to happen so often to trailblazers who challenge the authorities of their time, doesn't it? Well, in any case, by 1609 he determined the law of falling bodies. As you may guess, what the law says completely contradicts Atistotelian physics. It states that the distance traveled by a falling body is directly proportional to the square of the time it takes to fall. For example, a stone falling for twice as long as another stone will travel four times the distance. Or, a ball falling for three seconds will travel nine times the distance traveled by a ball falling for one second. On the basis of this law, Galileo reached the conclusion that bodies fall to the surface of the earth at a constant acceleration, and that the force of gravity, which is the cause of all bodies moving downward, is a constant force. In other words, um, a constant force does not lead to, um, constant speed but to constant acceleration. Well, in the period before him, people thought that force causes speed. That's what Aristotle believed. Instead, Galileo showed that force causes acceleration. This is also inseparable from this prinsiple of inertia that a body in motion will continue its motion so long as no factor disturbs that motion, which is, by the way, our topic next Thursday. The law also states that the trajectory of a projectile is a "parabola." Um, which means that the object thrown follows the path of a curve called "parabola." That's why the law is sometimes called the law of parabolic fall. And he also showed that a cannonball would have the greatest range if the cannon were pointed upward at an angel of 45° to the ground, the validity of which, by the way, was repeatedly demonstrated in the battlefields in numerous subsequent wars.
CD 3-29
Narrator: Listen as a student talks with a campus housing services office worker. Office worker: Housing Services. How may I help you? Student: Oh, hi. I'm calling to find out about housing registration for summer school. Office worker: Okay. What is your question regarding? Student: Well, I'm transferring from Mercer University this summer and enrolling in summer school. Um, according to the student bulletin, first year students have to live on campus. The thing is, it's already May, and I suppose all the residence halls must be occupied by now. Office worker: Uh, you may be right, even though I can't say for sure right off hand. But the University's First-Year Live-On Requirement can be waived if you obtain a letter to that effect from the Director of Residence Hall Administrative Operations. There are several conditions you will have to meet for that, though... Student: Oh, well, I... actually, I'd like to live in a dorm if a room is available. I found out it's very expensive to rent a room around here. I was looking for a cheap room since I'll be on my own from now on, forking out for room and board and everything on a very small budget. Office worker: Okay. Well, in that case, there are a couple of ways to register and find a room in one of the dormitories on campus. But, first things first. Let me check the occupancy list of the residential halls on campus to see if any space is available for you. By the way, what's your name? Student: George McCall. Office worker: ...Okay, George. There are a few rooms left in Stedman Hall. That's the tall brick building at the corner of College Avenue and Jackson Street. Also, there is one single room available in Reed Hall of West Campus Village. Student: Uh, one more thing I want to know is... well, um, can I room with a friend of mine? He's also transferring here from Mercer and enrolling in summer school. Office worker: Yes, as a matter of fact, you can if you find a double occupancy room available. But, at this time of the year, uh, I'm not sure... Student: Well, the most important thing is for each of us to find a room. So if it's too much trouble, I might as well forget it. Office worker: No, no, don't be hasty. You never know -- maybe you'll get lucky. Let me check the rooms in Stedman Hall. ...Well, well, what do you know? Today is your lucky day. There is one double room left at Stedman. If I were you I'd grab it right away, though. It looks like that's the only one on campus right now, you know. Student: Great! Okay, what am I supposed to do? Office worker: You will have to fill out a registration form. This has to be signed by the person responsible for the payment of room and board. You can print form and register online from the "Register for Housing" section of this department's website. But that way may take a couple of days to process the form. Since you're in a hurry, you should fill out the form and submit it to this office, instead. That way, it will be processed immediately and the contract will be effective in three or four days. Student: Seems like it should be the other way around... oh, well. Office worker: Yeah, you would imagine. But online registration's not instant because it require a background check on you, which usually takes a couple of days. Here in the office you can verify our information on you in person -- so it'll take only ten or fifteen minutes. Go figure. I didn't design the website. Student: I got you. Ha ha. Office worker: Oh, by the way, you'll also need an assignment from, which is a form guaranteeing your room. After the registration is completed, you'll have to email Assignments Office for a copy of the Summer 2006 Housing Assignment Form. You'll detach the bottom part, fill it out, sign it and send it here. You'll take the top part of form to the resident hall when you check in. Your resident adviser will take care of the rest. Student: Whoa, slow down, please. So I need to get another form from another office... ? Office worker: Yeah. But you need to worry about only one step a time. When you finish registration, you'll receive the instruction on what to do after that by email. Student: Okay. Good. And I can get the rate and more information on the website, right? Office worker: Certainly. By the way, all summer school rent will be billed directly to the payee -- that is you or whoever pays for it. The payment will be due on the date established by this office, usually the 5th of each month. You'll get a one-week grace period if you're late. All communication regarding billing will also be delivered via students' official campus email account. So check your email regularly after moving into the hall. Student: Okay, I'll do that. By the way, what are your hours? Office worker: From 9 to 4 Monday to Friday. Are you coming by today? Student: Might as well. Thank you. Office worker: You're very welcome.
CD 3-41
Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in a psychology class.Professor: You know, when I was conducting a study on conflict management on campus, a lot of students filled out the questionnaire with responses like "Stop complaining, and just suck it up"; "What else can I do? I've just got to suck it up and push on through"; and the variation of "I've been trying to suck it up, but I don't think I can do it much longer. I'm ready to snap!" All of these are also things I've heard frequently from college student who came in to talk about their issues with me at the counseling center. Most of them are engaged in latentt or manifest conflict with other students, university staff, or even faculty. Whether appraent or not, conflict has to be resolved. Interestingly, however, I haven't heard many students say they're gonna try to negotiate with the other party in those situation. Or I haven't heard them talk about seeking retaliation. Take one case I dealt with, for instance. This was between roommates who share an apartment. Student A is working at cafeteria until 9:00 and she needs at least three hours each night to prepare for the next day's classes. On the other hand, Student B has to get up early Tuesdays and Thursdays because her seminar starts at 8. So she wants to go to bed early the nights before. The two talked and decided on a time to go to bed, but when I interviewed Student B three months later, somehow she was not happy with the arragement and even though she wouldn't go so far as to admit that. Obviously they aren't getting along well. Something's wrong. What has gone wrong between them? What could be the cause of her resentment> Oh, by the way, they decided to turn the light out at 11:30. Student 1: People get weird on you over really trivial things. Everybody's got some episode like that. You never know, you know? Student 2: Really, who doesn't? Student 1: Um, what I'm saying is, it could be anything. But usually small matters you can ignore. So when an issue has blown up in her head like that -- after all, she went to talk to you, right? It must be something real serious. Professor: That's good insight. In the article I assigned last week, Garry Thomas deals with the exact topic: Interpersonal conflict. Garry Thomas maintains that conflict is a process consisting of four stages. Frustration, conceptualization, behavior and outcome. Its right stage can be either a satisfactory resolution or continued emotional distress, which our Student B is in right now. The first stage of his process model of conflict is frustration. Frustration arises when we're not, so to speak, in sync with others. It occurs when we perceive that our goals, beliefs, or attitudes are inconsistent with those of another individual or group with which we have formed a social unit. In our example case, Student B has frustration, Evidently, Student A doesn't manifest any sign of it. Well, the second stage is Conceptualization. Conceptualization is the cognitive evaluation of what one perceives as the cause of frustration. This means we consciously gauge whatever we see as its cause. Student B states that she feels frustrated over the arragement between herself and her roomate over their light-out time. Studnet 1: Dr. Gonzales, isn't it hard to judge what's frustrating you? Especially, when you're really frustrated? Professor: Yes, that's true. Judging could be near impossible since it require mental equilibrium, which can't be your state of mind when you're really frustrated or upset. And usually there is not just one issue but a series of possible explanation for a conflict. We will disuss this in more detail later. The third stage of model is behavior. According to Thomas, when we choose behavior to handle a troublesome situation of this kind, we will be influced by three factors: egocentricity, a general insight into the entire situation, and the size of the issue. The degree of egocentricity is very important because egocentricity causes one to define the issues only within one's concerns without recognizing the other party's. This makes cooperation as a means of resolution less likely. Putting yourself in someone else's shoes is not an easy thing to do. When we talked with Student B, we found out from the student's records that her roomates has lost a scholarship last semester and is trying to get her grade up but that Student B didn't know that. Do you think this piece of information might have influenced her behavior or attitude toward her roommate if it had been available to her at the initial stage? If so, why? Student 2: Naturally, she'd be more understanding, wouldn't she? Professor: Why, Bruce? Student 2: Uh, well, wouldn't anyone? It'd be obvious she needs to work hard and until late at night. Maybe she can't afford to cut down on her working hours, either, you know. So she should just give her a break, uh, rahter, more breaks, I mean. Professor: You're precisely on point here. Seeing her roommate's predicament could change her perspective completely. As you can see, the person's general insight into the situation plays a big part. If a person has some general understanding about all the underlying concerns, the likelihood of reaching a resolution will increase. There are two sides to the coin, as always, though. Actually, Student B told us that she suggested they go to bed at 11:00, because she felt a need to concede some in the situation even though she actually wants to sleep by 10:30. But somehow she didn't make it known to her roommate that she started negotiations already having yielded 30 minutes, while her roommate assumed she wanted to turn the light off at 11:00. So by the time the negotiations were over, Student B had yielded one hour, while Studnet A had yielded 30 minutes. Neither of them knew where each other was coming from, really. If only they'd known how to go about negotiating and had told each other exactly what they wanted right off the bat! Well, okay, the last factor, the size of the issue here means large issues require more forceful means of settlement. In other word, the bigger your conflict is, the more radical your course of action gets. This also leads to the observation that a big problem should be broken up into smaller parts that are more easily managed. You won't immediately talk to campus legal aid or an ombudsman to settle the unpleasant situation between roommates over sleeping arragements that I just mentioned, for instance. Student 1: But, to me, talking to you at the counseling office already seems to be quite a big step... I'm not sure a lot of people feel comfortable about even doing that. Professor: Yeah, I hear you... Um, but you shouldn't feel that way because it's confidential and all. Also how big an issue is depends on your perception of it. Needless to say, however, if you think it's serious and you can't solve it by yourself, then maybe something should be done at a level higher than that of individual efforts. Well, Thomas next identifies actions taken to resolve conflict. The most frequent behavioral response was to suck it up, followed by positive confrontation. Sucking it up and distancing are the primary forms of manifested avoidance. Student 2: You mean by "distancing," ignoring? Professor: Mainly. And sometimes it can involve certain actions taken to keep away from the situaiton. This bears out our suspicion all along; that is, people will readily disort their perception of an unfair or unjust situation if they don't think they can succeed with demands for compensation or retaliation, so that they can live with the sitaution. This may be occuring often with college students because they lack the experience to develop the skills to negotiate compensation, or the power to effect retaliation. This is what Student B tried to do. Positive confrontation, the second behavioral strategy, shifts away from the use of retaliation or "just talking it." People will then attempt to work it out and negotiate an agreement. Positive confrontation involves both parties in breaking the status quo. Actually doing something about the issue. Thomas reports that students do experience a good degree of success in their negotiations, especially when they are prepped for a confrontation in advance. The key is their realization that destructive conflict does not necessarily have to perpetuate itself. In other word, knowing a solution may work exerts an influence on behavioral response. Here's where informing students and developing their conflict management skills comes in. Thomas's study provide many interesting insights into the conflict resolution behavior of students. Well, um, I thought the last one he cited -- their greatest failures with negotiation attempts are with teachers -- is especially intriguing. Well, we certainly hope that Student B will learn negotiation and other conflict resolution skills so that she will be able to break through her present problem and get along better with her roommate, and avoid repeating mistakes in dealing with troublesome situations. Student 2: She should say what she wants and when she wants it, to begin with. Professor: And nicely, Bruce.
CD 3-58
Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in biochemistry. Professor: The next thing I'd like to talk about is the cyclic process of energy generation in a cell, namely, the ATP cycle in mitochondria. The chemical compound adenosine triphosphate is usually abbreviated as ATP. Well, first of all, ATP is very, very important because it's the primary source of energy for all living cells. Just like monetary currency, ATP is valuable and ubiquitous, being used to provide energy in a wide variety of metabolic reactions. You could say it's a "universal molecule of energy transfer" in living things. Hence, ATP is commonly referred to as the free energy currency, or coin, of the cell, as well. Nevertheless, the energy content of ATP is not significantly different from other phosphates. Um... for whatever reason, however, evolution has created an array of enzymes that preferentially bind with ATP to produce energy for driving reactions in all living things. Where do we find ATP? Well, ATP is in the cytosol and the mitochondria in the cell. The cytosol -- you may also call it the ground substance of the cell. This cytosol is the fluid portion of the cell that surrounds and, um, contains the cellular constituents, including the mitochondria. Most of the ATP is found in the cytosol, but the major work of energy production is performed in the mitochondria. The mitochondria are known as the cellular energy powerhouse. Why? Because their sole job is to convert fuel that is food, to energy. The mitochondria provide energy for most of the energy-consuming activities of the cell by... uh... transferring energy from chemical bonds to energy absorbing reactions within the cell. Particularly mitochondrion-rich tissues.. you know, mitochondrion is the singular form of the term "mitochondria"... anyway, um, mitochondrion-rich tissues are those of the skeletal muscles, heart, liver, pancreas and kidneys. Let's see... Uh, heart and skeletal muscles work hard to meet the body's constant demand for mechanical work. Um, mitochondria in liver cells contain enzymes to detoxify ammonia, which is a waste product of protein metabolism. How about the pancreas? The pancreas is involved in important biosynthesis. And the process of excretion begins in the kidney. What is common to the tissues of all these organs? Do you know? Charles? Male student: Uh, I think they are... um, all of them are big consumers of energy, for starters... Professor: Bingo! That's it. Those tissues require a lot of energy in order to function. Hence, they have a lot of mitochondria. Okay, then, how does the energy cycle in mitochondria work? The ATP molecule is composed of three components. At the center is a sugar molecule, ribose -- the same sugar that forms the basis of DNA. Attached to one side of this is adenine. The other side of the sugar is attached to a string of phosphate groups. These phosphates are the key to the activity of ATP. As you may know, "tri" of triphosphate means "three" and so ATP has three phosphates. When the chemical bond holding one of the phosphate molecules in ATP is broken, energy is released. This energy is then used to do work in the cell. What is left-over from this process is adenosine diphosphate, or ADP, and a free phosphate. Three phosphates minus one free phosphate are two phosphates, so "di" of diphosphate "two." Elementary! Right? Right. And, once ATP releases its energy, most of the resulting ADP returns to the mitochondria to be recycled back into ATP. After ATP forms again in the energy recycling process, it leaves the mitochondria and moves to the region of the cell needing energy. By the way, in order to generate ATP again from ADP and free phosphate we need to add energy back to form the bond. As we learned last time, the loss of an electron by a molecule, atom or ion is called...? What? Anyone? Male student: ...um, oxidation? Professor: Uh, huh, right. In oxidation, an electron is released or removed. Remember? In this case, electrons released in oxidizing the carbon fuels are used to recycle ADP back into ATP in the mitochondria. This process of energy formation and transfer by the mitochondria is called respiration... yes? Female student: Professor Roberts, respiration is breathing, isn't it? Professor: Yes, it is. As a matter of fact, the process is essentially breathing. It's called "respiration" simply because it require oxygen, just like our breathing, as you said. In any case, in order to understand the system by which.. uh, excuse me, the mechanism of conserving the energy as ATP from respiration, it's necessary to, um, appreciate the structural features of mitochondria. Well, mitochondria have two types of membranes: one is an outer membrane, which allows the passage of most small molecules and ions, and the other is a highly folded inner membrane, which does not even allow the passage of small ions and so, as a result, maintains a closed space within the cell. Nonetheless, to be of any use, ATP formed inside the mitochondria has to be moved into the cytosol of the cell to release energy. At the same time, ADP from the cytosol has to be moved into mitochondria, where it can be recycled to ATP. Because the inner membrane is impermeable to both ATP and ADP, however, they need assistance from a certain enzyme to keep ATP flowing to the cell and ADP flowing to the mitochondria. These enzymes are located in and on the inner membrane. And when everything works smoothly and oxygen and food -- that is, fuel, is plentiful, energy recycling occurs unimpeded millions of times per second in every cell in the body. And also, the energy to create ATP from ADP comes ultimately from the sun via photosynthesis. Plants store extra energy as glucose. Uh, it's a national, er, rather, natural form of sugar and is used as a "fuel" to create more ATP in mitochondria of not just plants' but all living cells. And the final products generated by this whole metabolic system are carbon dioxide (CO2) and water. As you know, carbon dioxide is released when we exhale. Some of the water is also exhaled, and the rest is transported to the kidneys to be excreted as urine with other waste.