Download The Chemical Building Blocks of Life

The Chemical Building Blocks of Life: Building Macromolecules
Name: _____________________
Objectives: You will be to:
1.
2.
3.
Identify the building blocks of each of the four macromolecules
Construct models of each group by demonstrating the process of dehydration synthesis.
Explain how the structure of the molecule contributes to its function.
Pre-activity Questions:
1. Purpose of dehydration synthesis (also known as condensation reaction): ____________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
a. Example of a Simple reaction of dehydration (draw a picture):
By the end of the activity: You and your partner should have assembled
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
Monomer of a carbohydrate molecule
Disaccharide
Polysaccharide
Saturated Fat
Unsaturated Fat
DNA molecule
Protein
Materials
1. Card Stock building blocks (You will need to identify each piece and decide with ONLY your partner what each
piece will be used for building a certain macromolecule… no sharing information between groups!)
2. Water Molecules (in each macromolecule section below it advises which size of water molecule to use)
3. Scissors & Tape
4. Textbooks (both Hillis (Ch. 2) and Campbell (Ch. 5)
Activity:
1. Building a Carbohydrate
a. Identify the monomer of a carbohydrate: _____________________
b. Before making any bonds, you will need to number the carbons.
Make sure you find the 6’ carbon.
(Use your resources to figure out the numbering of the carbons)
c. Draw your product in the box:
c.
Write the name your sugar monomer on your cardstock (be sure to use the correct ending)…this
should be creative and not an actual sugar monomer name except for the last 3 letters!
Your sugar monomer name: ______________________
d. Join the 2 monomers (your and your partner’s)together by dehydration synthesis…you should use the
large water droplets to help show this reaction. Draw your final product in the box below
What is the specific name of this bond that formed between the two monomers of a
carbohydrate ? _____________________________________
What type of molecule was assembled: ______________________________
e. Once you have completed letters a-d correctly then join one other group to complete another
dehydration synthesis reaction of a yet bigger molecule
What type of molecule was assembled? ___________________________________
Draw your completed molecule from “e”:
Building Lipids: A Triglycerol Fat
a. You will need to identify the two major components of a fat: ___________ and ________________________
b. Use the small water droplets to demonstrate dehydration synthesis to build the molecule
c. What type of bond is formed between the two major components of a fat? _______________________
d. Lipids are not polymers but are rather identified as _________________________________. (which makes them
have the property of being _____________________________)
e. Draw the molecule you built for a saturated fat:
f.
Because of its structure, saturated fats tend to lie close together creating a ______________ (what state of
matter)at room temperature. Example: _______________________________
g. Draw the molecule you built for an unsaturated fat:
h. Unsaturated fats differ from saturated because of the _____________________________, which separates the
molecules further apart and creates a ________________________ (what state of matter) at room
temperature. Example: _____________________
Building Proteins: (Only take the pieces that correspond to YOUR sequence)
a.
First, you must get a sequence for building your protein. You just picked up the ______________________
sequence.
b. Using your textbook, identify the correct ____________ ______________ (monomer of a protein) and build
your protein according to the sequence provided. You must label each piece correctly.
c. Identify the typical structure of an amino acid in the box:
Label the 4 major components!
d.
Each amino acid differs in the __________ group
e. Identify the name and the chemical characteristic on each paper amino acid you need to build your protein
What are these chemical characteristics?
1. _____________________________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________________________
f.
Use the small water droplets to demonstrate the dehydration synthesis
g. What type of bond are you forming in building this protein? _______________________________
Building DNA:
a.
Identify the “template” paper for building a DNA molecule.
What is the building block of this molecule? _____________________________
b. Number the carbons on the deoxyribose sugars of the template..make sure you find the 5’carbon. Draw a final
product of one of the building blocks labeled correctly below.
c. Build the complementary strand by matching the nucleotides to the template strand.
d. Use small water droplets to demonstrate dehydration synthesis when building the molecule.
e. The configuration of the molecule is often referred to as being ____________________________________.
f.
What is unique about the carbons at the end of each of the strands? ____________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
g. How do the bonds formed between the “backbone” differ from the bonds between the nitrogen bases?
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Wrap –UP:
*** Make sure you have cleaned up your area and returned any unused pieces.
*** Make sure your names are on each macromolecule you built.