Final answer:
Extracting energy from fatty acids to make ATP typically requires oxygen, as in aerobic respiration where oxygen is the final electron acceptor, making the statement generally true. However, some organisms can produce ATP without oxygen, just not from fatty acids.
Step-by-step explanation:
The extraction of energy from fatty acids to make ATP (adenosine triphosphate) indeed generally requires oxygen. This is true because the process that primarily generates ATP from fatty acid oxidation is known as aerobic respiration, which ends with the electron transport chain where oxygen serves as the final electron acceptor. The overall metabolic process converts fatty acids, such as the commonly studied palmitic acid from triglycerides, into acetyl CoA through a process called β-oxidation. This acetyl CoA then enters the Krebs cycle, which, along with the following electron transport chain, produces a significant amount of ATP.
While the statement 'Extracting energy from fatty acids to make ATP always requires oxygen' is generally true, especially in the context of animal cellular respiration, it should be noted that some organisms have pathways that can produce ATP in the absence of oxygen, such as during glycolysis or anaerobic respiration, although this is less efficient and doesn't involve fatty acids directly. Nevertheless, for the human body, the aerobic pathway is the main mechanism for ATP production from fatty acid oxidation.
Therefore, the answer to the student's question is True, with the qualification that there are alternative mechanisms for ATP production in the absence of oxygen, albeit not directly from fatty acid oxidation.