Building Blocks
What are the three main elements found in sugar molecules?
Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
Which element must be added to carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen to form amino acids?
Nitrogen
What macromolecule is made from long chains of amino acids?
Proteins
Which process breaks down sugar molecules to release energy?
Cellular respiration
What type of bond holds atoms together in molecules?
Covalent bond
What type of molecule is glucose?
A carbohydrate (monosaccharide)
What type of bond links amino acids together in proteins?
Peptide bond
Which macromolecule stores genetic information?
Nucleic acids (DNA/RNA)
What is the name of the process that builds proteins from amino acids?
Protein synthesis (translation)
What is the main role of oxygen in cellular processes?
It is the final electron acceptor in cellular respiration, enabling ATP production.
How does the structure of glucose make it a good energy source?
Its bonds store chemical energy that can be easily broken to release ATP.
Why does the addition of nitrogen change the function of a molecule compared to glucose?
Nitrogen enables amino groups, allowing molecules to form proteins with structural and functional roles.
Compare carbohydrates and proteins in terms of structure and function.
Carbohydrates provide energy/storage (C, H, O); proteins perform structural, enzymatic, and signaling functions (C, H, O, N, S).
Explain how the energy from glucose breakdown is connected to building amino acids.
ATP from glucose provides the energy needed to synthesize amino acids and proteins.
How does rearranging the same elements create molecules with different functions?
Different bonding patterns and structures lead to unique properties and roles.
Compare the elements in glucose with the elements in an amino acid.
Glucose has C, H, O; amino acids also have N (and sometimes S).
Predict what might happen if cells could not access nitrogen for building amino acids.
Proteins couldn’t be built → cells couldn’t grow, repair, or function.
How do elements like sulfur or phosphorus expand the diversity of macromolecules?
They allow unique chemical properties, such as disulfide bonds in proteins or phosphate groups in DNA.
How does protein function in the body differ from the role of carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates store/provide energy; proteins build structures, act as enzymes, and regulate processes.
Why is it important that carbon can form four bonds?
It allows carbon to build diverse, stable, complex molecules (chains, rings, branching).
Explain how a cell could use carbon from glucose to build a protein.
Cells break down glucose for carbon skeletons, add nitrogen and other elements, then link amino acids together into proteins.
Construct an explanation for how glucose can serve as a starting point for amino acid synthesis in cells.
Glucose provides carbon skeletons through metabolic pathways; cells add nitrogen to form amino acids, which are assembled into proteins.
Argue why life could not exist with only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
Without nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur, essential macromolecules (proteins, nucleic acids, phospholipids) could not form.
Revise an explanation for how the cycling of carbon through sugars and proteins supports life at the ecosystem level.
Plants fix carbon into sugars; animals eat sugars and build proteins; decomposers recycle carbon back into the environment, sustaining the cycle of life.
Construct an explanation for how small molecular changes can lead to large differences in biological function (example: hemoglobin vs. sickle-cell hemoglobin).
A single amino acid substitution changes protein shape, affecting oxygen transport and causing disease, showing how small changes can greatly impact life.